WAIPAHU, Hawai`i—Hawai`i Pacific's Josch Cuerten was a one-man wrecking crew, scoring three times to lead his Shark men's soccer team to a 3-0 win over Hawai`i Hilo on Saturday afternoon at Waipio Field.
Cuerten's hat trick helped move HPU's overall record to .500 at 4-4-2, and they are now 2-3-1 in the Pacific West Conference. The Vulcans dropped to 0-9 on the year and 0-6 in the PacWest.
Cuerten, who scored two goals in the season opening 4-1 non-conference win over UHH, now has eight goals on the season.
The last time these two teams met, the Vulcans scored first and would lead 1-0 at the half. This time, the visitors were locked up on a 0-0 tie until Cuerten put the first score on the board in the 40
th minute. He added another goal a little over three minutes later (43:14) to give the Sharks a 2-0 lead at the break.
Both of the goals were assisted by Mario Garcia Velez. Cuerten's final goal, ten minutes into the second half (55:16) was unassisted.
Daniel Arnoli got credit for the shutout in the goal for the Sharks, with four saves.
Joshua Jasper was the goalkeeper for UH Hilo in the first half (three saves, two goals) and
Nick Williams played in the second half (one goal).
The Vulcans had 11 shots on the day, four of them by
Jack Stonehouse. The Sharks finished with 12 shots, six of them on goal.
UH Hilo will now prepare for a three-match road trip that begins in San Diego at Point Loma on Saturday, Oct. 14.
