HILO, Hawai`i—Disappointment keeps finding the Hawaii Hilo men's soccer team, even if it picks a different avenue each time out.
Holy Names' Josiah Romero scored with just 3:47 left to break a 1-1 tie and defeat the Vulcans at Kamehameha School, 2-1 on Tuesday night. The victory improved Holy Names' record to 2-1-1 in the Pacific West Conference and they are now 2-6-1 overall.
The Vulcans dropped to 0-8 on the season and to 0-5 in the PacWest.
Romero nailed his winning shot just moments after he was taken down just outside the box. On the free kick, from the left side, he hooked a shot around a block of players into the lower left-hand corner of the net. UHH goalie
Nick Williams dove but the winning shot was just out of his reach.
It was another tough loss for the Vulcans, who lost in sudden death on Saturday to Academy of Art, 1-0.
The Vulcans scored first, just 15 minutes into the contest.
Bryan Reynoso took a feed from
Jesus Ortega and fired a shot from about 30 yards out when Hawk goalkeeper Juan Nieves came out of the box.
For the freshman Reynoso, it was his team-leading third goal of the season. It was also the third time this season that the Vulcans had scored the first goal of the match, but would eventually come up on the short end of the score.
The Hawks would counter in a stunning way. As the first half clock was winding down, Lucas Alcala pushed a pass to Carlos Vazquez-Perez who fired a laser from about 35 yards out on the left side. The shot hit the right post and apparently slipped past the goal line, as the halftime buzzer sounded.
After the referees conferred, the goal was allowed, sending both teams to the locker room tied at the break, 1-1.
The teams were dead even in the first half in opportunities, with both teams taking five shots, three of them on goal.
The match continued in the same vein in the second half. Both squads had solid chances late in regulation to score.
Jake Sagami had a free kick with 10 minutes to go, but his shot sailed high. Holy Names' Hernan Mercado worked his way open to a one-on-one opportunity with seven minutes left, but his shot sailed high and to the right.
Sagami again had a free kick with just 15 seconds left, from virtually the same spot as before. This time, his attempt was blocked and the clock wound down to zero.
The end of game stats were virtually even after 90 minutes. Both teams had five shots on goal, with the Hawks finishing with 13 shots overall while the Vulcans had 10.
The Vulcans will head to Oahu this weekend to take on rival Hawaii Pacific in a conference match-up. Start time is 3 p.m.
