HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The reigning Big West Regular Season Champion UH soccer team officially begin their 2025 campaign.
The season kicks off on Thursday in the Golden State against conference opponent Long Beach State.
Going into the year as the Preseason number one in the Big West coaches poll.
“You can’t say, you know, it doesn’t matter when now you’re ranked number one, so does that not matter?” Head coach Michele Nagamine said. “I think it’s nice to be recognized.”
The ‘Bows had a milestone 2024 with a program best nine-match winning streak and scoring the most points by a big west team since 2016.
Garnering their first No. 1 ranking in a conference since 2008.
“To be honest, the target was going to be there anyway coming back after the season that we had last year,” Nagamine said. “It’s going to be a daunting task to get back there again this year, but the team is focused, they’ve been working hard and they’re coming together nicely.”
Helping lead the way this year is returning Big West Goalkeeper of the Year Kennedy Justin — who got the start midway through last year due to injury and never looked back.
“When I was on the bench, I was trying to be the best cheerleader that I could be and when I was on the field, I tried to be the best goalkeeper that I could be,” Justin said. “Whatever it was going to take to be successful for the team, so I’m happy that my role played a part in the team’s success last season.”
Individually, Justin holds the school record with five consecutive shutout games and plans to build on her early success.
However, as a team, she has her sights set on a bigger goal.
“I’m here, I want to compete, I want to get goalkeeper of the year again, I want to win the conference again,” Justin said. “I mean our goal is we want to dance this year, we want to make it to the NCAA tournament, so I think building upon what we already have, but let’s let’s challenge it, let’s try to max it all out.”
The ‘Bows open the season on Thursday at Long Beach State, kick off set for 4:00 p.m. Hawaii time.
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