KEAAU — It was a wet and wild Saturday afternoon at Paiea Stadium for the University of Hawaii at Hilo men’s soccer team, and when the end finally came after two overtimes, the Vulcans left the field with some issues remaining but a glint of hope in their eyes.
It was the first home Pacific West Conference match of the season for the Vulcans, and from the look of the standings, with undefeated Hawaii Pacific having allowed only two goals all season while UHH was winless in conference play, you would understand if fans expected the worst.
Instead they got what can only be considered the best effort of the season, an uphill 4-4 overtime draw that left the Vulcans 0-3-1, while it put the first blemish on the Sharks (2-0-2).
“We did some good things, we looked pretty good today,” said UHH soccer director Gene Okamura, “but we still have to execute better in front of the goal and we need to tighten up defensively.
“But it’s a turn in the right direction.”
That much seemed certain after the Vulcans fell behind 1-0, 2-1, and 4-3 before getting the equalizing goal from Jake Sagami in the 90th minute when a desperation charge resulted in a rebound off a shot by senior Ed Torrison that came to Sagami who put it past the goalie.
It wasn’t quite over, even at that late point. Sven Koenig, a sophomore from Germany who already recorded a hat trick in the match, giving him 11 goals already in the young season, had the ball find him directly in front on the goal just inside the penalty area with five seconds left. He unleashed a rocket that freshman Andrew Tamburro was able to deflect just over the crossbar to send it to overtime.
“It’s always tough coming to Hilo and playing these guys,” said Hawaii Pacific coach Chris Fisher. “Give them credit, they played a high-spirited game and (Okamura) has some players who can make things happen out there.
“If you were a fan, this was a lot of fun to watch, I’m sure,” he said. “For coaches, you don’t like these kind, too nerve-wracking.
In a draw at 3-3, the Vulcans were in a position to earn their first points in conference play but Curtis Walker was dispossessed of the ball and the Sharks were able to gain an advantage in numbers on the sudden turnaround. A shot caromed off the cross bar and found its way to the feet of Eric Kemsies who was able to direct it past Tamburro, playing in his first collegiate match.
Koenig’s third goal came in the 72rd minute in a dangerous scramble of players in front of the Hilo goal and it was his foot that stuck out of the pile of players and tapped it past Tamburro to make it 3-3, upending the Vulcans’ only lead of the match.
That came just five minutes after Kyran Johal, who had re-entered the match two minutes earlier, rose up and headed a pass from Walker into the net, beating HPU freshman goalie Chandler Schur.
Earlier, Rodrigo Castellanos allowed the Vulcans to draw even at 2-2 in the 59th minute when his impeccable free kick from 25 yards out bent its way through the wet, heavy air and found the back of the net.
Sagami broke a long scoring drought for the Vulcans in conference play when he became the target man for a run by Johal down the left side in the 39th minute to even the score at 1-1. Johal eluded one defender, then under close marking, he was able to send an unmolested cross to Sagami, who backed up two steps and one-timed a direct blast o even the score.
“This is our home turf, we feel we need to protect it and we we always get up for these guys,” Sagami said. “We learned today we have a lot of heart, we can fight through things, this is something we can build on.”
The next chance for that is Thursday when the Vulcans host Chaminade, with the men starting at 12:30 followed by the women’s match.
HPU 2, UHH 1 — After drawing in three consecutive matches, the Vulcans’ women’s team got out their comfort zone in a loss to the Sharks (2-1) who were on the ball first and won a lot of open balls to thwart UHH (0-1-3) opportunities.
Following a fifth-minute goal by HPU’s Sara Romo on a scramble in front of the net that was prompted by some sloppy organization in the Vulcans’ back line, UH Hilo evened the score when senior Abcde Zoller collected a loose ball, punched it away and then chased it down, headed to the goal. She was closely marked, but faked left, went right around her defender and banged it in from point blank range in the ninth minute to make it 1-1.
Neither team could score, though the Vulcans held a large advantage in possession time until the 84th minute when HPU’s Kai Hasegawa found Romo with her back to the goal about 40 yards out. Romo collected the ball, held and turned, challenging her defender to the right and then she poked it to the far corner, past goalie Jenna Huffed for the 2-1 lead.
Hufford had led the PWC in save percentage (.878) coming into the match.
“We had more of the ball but we didn’t make much of it,” said Okamura, coach of both Hilo teams. “They started hitting the long ball and we fell into doing the same thing, it took us away from our game. Not much of a job by us, not good.”
HPU coach Gina Brewer, a long time friend of Okamura’s said, “You can tell he wants to play full soccer, he has some quick forwards who will give you trouble, but we battled them well today.
“It wasn’t very pretty,” she said, “but the result looks good.”
