Kaneohe, Hawaii - Though both programs are in their first season of NCAA Division II play, the difference in experience was far and away the key factor as the University of Hawaii at Hilo women’s soccer program fell to Dixie State College, 5-0, at the Hawaii Pacific University-Hawaii Loa campus soccer field.

“This was our first game and that was their seventh, so there is a huge gap in every aspect … fitness, work rate, technical and tactical skill,” UHH head coach Travis Clarke said. “They have players that have played in college before … whether a junior college or whatever. We have only one in Karen Weatherby.

“I thought Kelly White did great. She almost scored on the free kick and played a solid middle. I thought Healani Leite-Ah Yo did awesome. I put her in the back, she did good. I put her up front, she did good. “

Going head-to-head with DSC (3-0) in the first half, the Vulcans (0-1) struggled to get an offense going but held fast on defense. In the first half, the Rebels took 12 shots while the Vulcans managed one shot on a free kick.

DSC’s Cami Drecksel took a pass in the left flat from Taylor Murdock and drilled it into the goal, 11 minutes into the game. Just as time was expiring, Murdock kicked a shot off of the goal in for a 2-0 halftime lead.

At the half, the Vulcans changed strategy and focused on defense. Any scoring opportunity would come on the breakaway.

“I thought in the second half we played much better,” Clarke said. “It seemed they had four good looks and made three of them. In the first it seemed like they had 80. It was already 4-0 when we started figuring out how to defend those girls.”

The Rebels had only six shots on goal while the Vulcans took three shots.

At the 52- and 53-minute mark of the game, DSC’s Nicolette Trickey picked up a pair of breakaway goals. It wasn’t until the 80-minute mark that Anna Baugh scored the game’s final goal.

“I told our girls we flew over here and got a free clinic,” Clarke said. “You saw what you want to look like, now we go home and train.

“That’s what you want to look like at the end of the season.”