THIS WEEK
Saturday, Sept. 30, UH Hilo (0-6/0-3 PWC) vs. Academy of Art (2-3-1/1-1 PWC), Paiea Stadium at Kamehameha School, Keaau, Hawaii, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 3, UH Hilo vs. Holy Names (0-6/0-1 PWC), Paiea Stadium at Kamehameha School, Keaau, Hawaii, 7 p.m.
(Link to Live Stats for all matches available at www.hiloathletics.com)

Hilo Headlines: After six matches on the road to begin the season, the Vulcans will finally get to play on the new turf at Kamehameha School this Saturday and Tuesday, hosting Academy of Art and Holy Names. The UH Hilo men will be looking for their first win on Saturday after a tough slate of games in southern California last week.

Promo Post: On Saturday, all fans in attendance will receive a free Vulcans schedule magnet, and on Tuesday, Vulcan Pride t-shirts are available for the first 100 fans in attendance.

Tough Luck: In UHH's six losses, the Vulcans have lost two of those matches by just one goal, and had leads in two other contests. In addition to playing all six matches on the road, they have had to go up against the likes of Cal State LA, who is 7-1-1, and No. 10 nationally ranked California Baptist, who is 6-0-1.

Scoring Column: Freshman Bryan Reynoso has two of UHH's three goals thus far, and sophomore Jonathan Garcia has two of the team's three assists.

Just Gene: "We knew that road trip would be a bear," said Vulcan head coach Gene Okamura, regarding playing four solid teams in eight days in Los Angeles. "We played four very good teams, and we were right with them for stretches, just not for all 90 minutes. We are making progress, and it will be good to continue to work towards getting better while here at home."

Mixing It Up: The Vulcans have 12 returnees from their 2016 squad, eight of whom saw consistent starting time. In addition to that group, 14 newcomers dot the roster, comprised of seven transfers and seven freshmen. Five of the newcomers are seeing consistent starting time.

Notes about the Knights: Academy of Art brings a 1-1 PacWest record to Hilo, having defeated Dominican last Saturday (2-1) after falling to Notre Dame de Namur (2-1) two days prior to that. Kris Jensson has been tough in the goal for AAU, allowing just four goals in five starts for a 0.78 GAA. The Urban Knights, based in San Franscisco, have three players from Iceland on their roster and one each from Germany, Canada and Australia. The Vulcans and Academy of Art have played 10 times in school history, splitting them evenly at five wins apiece. AAU won last year's match-up, 1-0 in double overtime, in San Francisco.

Hawk History: Holy Names will be looking for their first win of the season on Thursday when they first travel to Chaminade. They have played just one PacWest match, falling to Notre Dame de Namur (4-1), one of the top teams in the conference thus far. Carlos Vazquez-Perez has been a scoring machine for the Hawks, tallying four goals in five matches while sending 22 shots towards the visiting net. He has twice been named the Pacwest Freshman of the Week. Senior midfielder Yhannes Harish was a Third Team All-PWC selection last year. The Vulcans lead the all-time series against Holy Names, 3-1-1, with the one tie coming last year in Oakland, 3-3 in the final match of the 2016 season.

Looking Ahead: After the pair of home matches, the Vulcans will pack their bags again. They will play Hawaii Pacific on Oahu on Oct. 7, and then will head back to the mainland for matches at Point Loma, Biola and Dixie State, Oct. 14-19.

The Coach: Gene Okamura enters into his second season as the leader of the men's and women's soccer programs at UH Hilo. The former Vulcan player and UH Hilo graduate served three seasons as an assistant prior to getting the director's job, and was also the head coach at Kamehameha School, where his team finished second in the HHSAA State Championships in 2015-16. The local product (Waiakea HS) is the Director of Coaching for Hawaii Big Rush and Haaheo Soccer Clubs.