UH-hilo’s men’s and women’s soccer teams played a pair of home matches against Concordia University Irvine on Monday, during which the UH-hilo’s women fell and men narrowly won.
Women’s team
A 2-0 first-half hole was just a tad too much to overcome as the No. 10 UH-Hilo Women’s Soccer team fell to No. 8 CUI 2-1 on Monday afternoon in Pacific West Conference play at the Vulcan Soccer Field.
Riley Walkington and Maddie Lauro netted goals in the 13th and 25th minutes, respectively, to give CUI a 2-0 lead at halftime.
The Vulcans got one score back in the second half after Teani Arakawa was fouled inside the penalty area before putting through a penalty kick in the 51st minute.
However, the Golden Eagles held on to claim the 2-1 victory to remain unbeaten in conference play.
Each team was credited with six shots on goal.
UH-Hilo moved to No. 2 in the league standings at 18 points as CUI remained unbeaten at No. 1 with 19 points. The Golden Eagles will head to O’ahu to face Chaminade and HPU before closing at Westmont on Nov. 11.
The Vulcans still have a shot at claiming a third-consecutive PacWest Conference Championship but will need CUI to fall at least twice.
For the time being, Point Loma (5-2-0) sits at No. 3 with 15 points as Westmont (4-1-2), Azusa Pacific (4-1-2) and Chaminade (4-2-2) still lurk behind each with 14 points.
UH-Hilo moved to a 10-2-1 record (6-2-0 Pacific West Conference) while Concordia University Irvine moved to a 6-0-1 conference record (11-1-1 overall).
The Vulcans will have one more home contest against Azusa Pacific (Nov. 12) as they will celebrate Senior Day with Nanea Wall, Megan Donovan, Zariah Nogales, Juliet Hufford, Miya Clarke, Alyssa Padron, Filippa Graneld, Adree Johnson, Samy Sierra, Jazlynn Ellis, Kierstyn Yamamoto and Annie Haglund.
The regular-season finale will be Nov. 12 on O’ahu against Chaminade.
In the first teaser of the official NCAA Division II Regional Rankings, UH-Hilo was announced last Wednesday as one of the first eight teams in contention out of the West Region. Concordia University Irvine and Point Loma joined as the other teams from the PacWest Conference.
Two more iterations will be released before the final announcement of the six postseason-bound squads at the NCAA Selection Show on Nov. 13.
The winners from each of the PacWest Conference, California Collegiate Athletic Association and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference will automatically qualify. The remaining three teams will be granted according to the regional ranks.
The top two teams will also have first choice on hosting rights for the NCAA West Regional First and Second Rounds.
Men’s team
With time winding down on the match, Colby Lee tapped in the lone score of the game off a long cross-in from Aidan Santos in the 80th minute to power the UH-Hilo Men’s Soccer team through CUI, 1-0, Monday afternoon in Pacific West Conference action at the Vulcan Soccer Field.
Santos sent a cross-in to the far post from just outside the penalty area as Lee slid and tapped the ball back across the CUI keeper for the score.
“I saw Aidan get the ball on the farside. Tom (Vorkastner) made a near-post run and dragged the defender and left me free back-post. Aidan played a great ball — all I had to do was tap the ball in so all credit to Aidan,” Lee said. “We only had three games left — now we’ve only got two. It was just staying focused and getting the results in each game.”
Both teams went scoreless in the first half as pressure picked up in the later portions of the match. Following the score, CUI kept possession deep in the Vulcans’ territory but the defense stood strong as UH-Hilo keeper Christian Souza was credited with three saves in his fourth clean sheet of the season.
The Vulcans sit at No. 3 in the PacWest Conference standings and have a slim path to being able to lay claim to the league title. UH-Hilo will have to win out its remaining matches and finish in a tie or better with the league-leading squad(s).
Ahead in the standings is both Westmont and Point Loma at 6-1-0 with three matches remaining for each team. Both schools will match up Nov. 8 in San Diego, California.
UH-Hilo moved to 8-6-0 (5-3-0 PacWest) while Concordia University Irvine moved to a 3-4-0 conference record (4-8-0 overall).
The Vulcans will celebrate their seniors — Andrew Rehedul, MarcAnthony Cabrera, Alex Carmona, Joesph Torres, Tom Vorkastner, David Mayser and Christian Souza — with their final home contest this Saturday, Nov. 4 against Azusa Pacific starting at 12:30 p.m.
UH-Hilo will conclude the regular season on O’ahu against Chaminade (Nov. 12).