Mana Wahine Wednesday: Hawai’i women’s soccer defender Jacey Jicha

HONOLULU – Recruited by where she was rooted. 

University of Hawai’i senior Jacey Jicha is among the best players for a red-hot Rainbow Wahine soccer team, providing leadership in the spine of a defense that has not allowed a goal since September 22 (five matches). Jicha has been a fixture in the back for head coach Michele “Bud” Nagamine for years, beginning in her freshman season when she logged nearly 900 minutes of playing time across 14 contests (8 starts). 

The Mililani graduate’s sophomore campaign was even stronger, as Jicha became the fourth defender in program history to be selected to an all-conference team (2nd-team all-Big West) after playing all 15 matches for a defense that allowed 21 total goals throughout the year. She followed it up with more consistent dominance, starting all 16 games in 2023 for Hawai’i while leading field players with 1,311 minutes on her way to another all-Big West selection. 

UH’s Jicha controls the ball during a home match versus Hawai’i Pacific. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

If a younger Jacey had her druthers, Hawai’i would never have had her services. 

“Initially when I started [being recruited], I did want to go away,” Jicha revealed. “But I remember going on a soccer trip with my [club team] and my parents did not come with me, and I remember just crying because they weren’t with me … I was like okay, yeah; I can’t go to the mainland and go to school.” 

She instead turned her focus on catching the eye of Nagamine and the home school, eventually signing with Hawai’i in November of 2020. 

“I [just decided] ‘I’m just going to throw all of my eggs in one basket, try to get recruited by Coach Bud,’ and it kind of worked out,” Jicha said with a smile. 

While her first three years saw varying degrees of team success, the defender’s senior season has seen the team’s winning ways lead to multiple program records. After playing to a scoreless tie at UC Irvine on October 13, the Rainbow Wahine set a new UH record with an 8-game unbeaten streak while matching a program-best mark of five straight matches without allowing a goal. 

Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Jicha has been a mainstay throughout the Big West season for Hawai’i, playing the full 90 minutes in all six conference matches so far. The Rainbow Wahine defense allowed a single goal during the first half of the conference-opening 2-1 win over UC Davis on September 19 and has held Big West programs scoreless in the 520 minutes played since then. 

According to Jicha, the defense has a little extra motivation to keep the clean sheets coming after allowing scores in every preseason match. 

“There was a lot of pressure on us, like the coaches, our team, we were itching for that shutout because in preseason we got scored on every game pretty early on,” Jicha said of the recent defensive mastery. “After we got the first [shutout], we were like, oh yeah, we can do this [more].” 

Mixed with redshirt freshman goalkeeper Kennedy Justin’s impact and a variety of quality defensive options surrounding Jicha, the confidence on the back end of the defense grows with every outing. Justin has already set a new program-high with five consecutive shutouts, the longest stretch of scoreless matches for a goalkeeper ever for Hawai’i. 

“She’s just brushing the surface,” Jicha said of her freshman goalkeeper’s performance. 

UH will need them both as they continue a magical season that has Hawai’i holding a slim two-point advantage over UC Santa Barbara in the overall Big West standings. A meeting at the Gauchos’ place remains on October 27 as part of the final four regular season games for Jicha and the Rainbow Wahine.