Perhaps just as valuable as Taryn Fukuroku's team-high eight goals, Jessica Domingo's control of the midfield, and Kori Lu's 37 saves is a behind-the-scenes superstar in strength coach DeJuan Hathaway.

His involvement with the University of Hawai'i women's soccer team lifted it from a team many questioned before the season to legitimate Western Athletic Conference contender.

"We lost seven offensive players and couldn't possibly be doing as well without the conditioning of the kids," Hawai'i coach Pinsoom Tenzing said.

The Rainbow Wahine (7-6-2, 1-1 WAC) open their home WAC schedule this weekend with games against Louisiana Tech (4-5-2, 0-1) at 7 p.m. tomorrow and Utah State (6-7-0, 1-0) at 5 p.m. Sunday. Hawai'i was the regular season co-champ last season, but has yet to win the WAC Tournament, which would award it an automatic NCAA berth.

Hathaway is solely responsible for the conditioning of the players, improving their strength, speed, agility and endurance since January. He also runs the warm-ups before practices and games.

"I've seen certain ones, like Tehane Higa, gain a lot of speed," Hathaway said. "Jess Domingo, Shawn Higa, Kristen Oshiro, Kelly McCloskey. They've all worked hard and they were dedicated to getting themselves better. The question was how good did they want to be? I pushed them and they accepted the challenge."

During Hathaway's short tenure, three soccer training records were broken. Defender Lehua Wood set the 20-yard shuttle time of 4.14 seconds — "she's beaten a high percentage of male collegiate athletes," Hathaway said — Krisha Kai, who is no longer on the team due to a back injury, set the bench press mark, and McCloskey hit 5:43 in the mile.

"The main thing I really emphasized was their running mechanics," Hathaway said. "I emphasized a lot of speed work and quickness."

The team sometimes trained at the beach and did a lot of track-style workouts.

With an undersized squad — if it weren't for McCloskey, a 5-foot-9 defender/midfielder, no field player would be taller than 5-6 — "We rely on our fitness and quickness and not our size to be in the game with other teams. He made it possible for us to play the way we're playing," Domingo said. "We're in shape enough to run the whole game and play high pressure and do the things we want to do."

Hathaway's greatest asset, besides his knowledge of training, is his ability to motivate the players. Everyone gets along with him. He is flexible enough to understand when the players are tired and is willing to adjust the workout accordingly. But "he'll push us hard so we improve," Domingo said.

Hathaway, 25, a Tennessee native who aspires to be a head trainer for a professional sports team, is a graduate assistant majoring in kinesiology.

From the start he has had a cohesive relationship with Tenzing. Hathaway's first question to the coach was about the team's fitness requirements. Hathaway then devised a specific training program, working with the players three to four times a week during spring training, and provided a training manual for summer workouts.

Most of the returnees who were on the island took part in Hathaway's voluntary summer workouts, which began at 7 a.m.

Their off-season work showed this season, especially during a five-game stretch when the Rainbow Wahine played overtime games and finished 2-1-2.

"If we were in any less shape, we would've been done for," Domingo said. "We've been through hard practices, pushing our bodies to the limit, but always knowing we had the stamina and strength to keep going. When you know you're in shape, it adds that mental toughness, because you know you can outlast anyone you play."

Tenzing noticed the impact on the team's conditioning during its most recent road trip when it played four games.

"We used to struggle against very bad teams in the third game of a road trip," Tenzing said. "And this time, the fourth game they were playing well. There is no drop in the intensity of play. They play the same way away as they do at home. There used to be a huge difference when we went on the road, and that is no longer the case. It is all due to conditioning."

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.