HONOLULU, Hawai`i—The Vulcans scored 22 seconds into the match and twice more before the end of the first half to salt away a 3-1 women's soccer victory over Chaminade on Monday afternoon at St. Louis Field.

The victory gave UH Hilo 2-0 start to the season and a pair of wins on Oahu to start the year. Chaminade, who defeated Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday 3-0, is now 1-1 on the year. The match was a non-conference encounter, as the two teams will meet later in the year in a Pacific West Conference battle.

Jamie Salas retrieved a header from Bryana-Marie Ebbers and deposited into the goal before anyone was settled into their seats to give the Vulcans a stunning 1-0 lead. Ebbers' header had bounced off the Chaminade goalkeeper and Salas picked up the ball off the carom for the score.

The Vulcans had two other golden opportunities to score in the first half before they found the net again. Carlie Reader had a one-on-one look that sailed high, and Tiera Arakawa bounced a penalty kick off the right crossbar with 20 minutes left.

But the Vulcans made the most of their next two chances. On a breakaway, Reader fired a shot from the right side to the left inside corner of the net to make the count 2-0 at the 34 minute mark.  Arakawa fed her for the assist.

UHH added one more before intermission when Jada Macairan found Callye Lahmann on a throw in, and the junior transfer scored her first goal for the Vulcans with a minute left in the half.

It turned out to be a good thing that the visitors built that 3-0 lead. The second half was much more evenly played, in fact Chaminade had the only score of the second 45 minutes. Ten minutes after halftime, the Silverswords' Nicole Nishiki fired a shot past Vulcan back-up keeper Ysabela Gabriella Barin to pull within two scores.

The hosts had one more great opportunity to find the net, but a Chaminade shot at an open goal sailed high over the goal. That would be all the scoring for the day, as the UHH defense preserved the win.

"We had a great start," said Vulcan head coach Gene Okamura. "But we slowed down in the second half. Our energy level dropped. We need to learn how to keep our energy up for a full 90 minutes."

The match was played in muggy conditions, 85 degrees, on turf. "Our depth comes into play on an afternoon like this," Okamura added.

UH Hilo had 17 shots on the day, 13 on goal. Reader had five of those, four on goal. Chaminade had 10 shots, six on goal. Vulcan goalkeeper in the first half, Jenna Hufford, had three saves, while Gabriella Barin had two.

The Vulcans will return to Oahu later in the week for neutral site match against Concordia (Oregon) on Friday.