The University of Hawai'i women's soccer team lost its regular-season finale, but still walked away as champions yesterday.

Fresno State defeated Hawai'i, 1-0, at a Western Athletic Conference game at the Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Stadium in front of a school-record crowd of 3,175 fans.

Hawai'i captured the WAC title outright for the first time in program history before yesterday's game, after Nevada and San Jose State played to a 4-4 draw. A win by either Nevada or San Jose State, coupled with the Hawai'i loss, would have resulted in a tie for the WAC title.

Hawai'i shared the WAC title in 2003.

Hawai'i (9-8-2, 5-2 WAC) leaves for the WAC Tournament at Boise, Idaho, which begins Thursday. Hawai'i, the top seed, received a bye into Friday's semifinals. Fresno State (7-9-2, 4-2-1) also qualified for the tournament.

"We approached the game very relaxed, which is partly my fault," Hawai'i coach Pinsoom Tenzing said. "It was difficult to switch the intensity on and off.

"(Fresno State) scored quickly, and to get that back was tough."

Fresno State scored on a goal by forward Nicole Gutierrez in the 15th minute, on a header off a cross from midfielder Antonea Lugo.

After yesterday's game, the Rainbow Wahine said good-bye to their five seniors, forward Natasha Kai, goalkeeper Mahie Atay, midfielder Natalie Groenewoud and defenders Emily Rose and Ashley Chaffin.

"It kind of sucks we lost the senior game, but we came out winning the WAC, and that's all that matters right now," Kai said.

Sophomore co-captain Jessica Domingo said losing yesterday but capturing the WAC was, "like we lost the battle, but won the war. Before the game I was upset because everyone was too relaxed. We needed to be more focused today and we weren't and you could tell by the outcome."

Fresno State had several good opportunities. Gutierrez had a one-on-one in the 37th minute, but she passed the ball to forward Allison Schroeder and Schroeder's return pass was cleared out by sophomore defender Koren Takeyama.

The next minute, Kai had a chance to tie the game when she chased down a clear and headed the ball away from a Fresno State defender, but her spinning volley shot went wide right.

In the 42nd minute, Schroeder received a through pass but her shot missed left.

Hawai'i's best chance was with a minute left in the first half on a miscommunication by Fresno State's defense, which allowed the ball to trickle right across the mouth of the goal. However, Hawai'i couldn't get a player near the ball.

Kai had another chance in the 51st minute when she chased down a clear by sophomore defender Lehua Wood and touched it once, but her shot was wide left.

In the 80th minute, Kai chased down a pass from Takeyama, but FSU goalkeeper Angie Larsen made the save.

The Bulldogs defense frustrated the Rainbow Wahine, packing their defensive third of the field, sometimes loading eight players in or around the 18-yard box.

"We got through a couple of times, I just had a hard time finishing," said Kai, who broke her own WAC single-season record in shots with 58. "It doesn't matter if you get through 100 times if you don't score."

Hawai'i tried to change its attack, removing one defender and adding a forward with about 5 minutes left in the game.

Hawai'i outshot Fresno State 13-11, with a 6-3 advantage in shots on goal.

Fresno State coach Steve Springthorpe arrived just before the start of the game because he was feeling ill. The team arrived in Hawai'i around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday after playing a game Friday.

"The girls responded well tonight," he said. "In the second half we defended a lot. We were fortunate this evening."

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.