WOMEN'S SOCCER WEEKLY
UH Hilo Overall Record: 3-1-2                     UHH PacWest Record: 1-0-1

Vulcans Hit Road for 3—at St. Martin's, Academy of Art, Holy Names                
Tuesday, Oct. 2, 1 p.m. PT @ Saint Martin's (4-5 overall, 0-4 GNAC)—Lacey, Wash.
Thursday, Oct. 4, 1 p.m. PT @Academy of Art (6-4 overall, 1-3 PWC)—San Francisco
Saturday, Oct. 6, 1:30 p.m. PT @Holy Names (2-5 overall, 0-1 PWC)—Oakland
(Link to Live Stats for all matches available at www.hiloathletics.com)
 
Hilo Headlines: The Vulcans picked up a pair of big victories at home last week, topping Azusa Pacific (2-1) and Chaminade (2-0). Unfortunately, the match against the Silverswords was non-conference, but regardless UH Hilo improved to 1-0-1 in PacWest action, good enough for third place currently, and 3-1-2 overall. 

Lindsey's Life Celebrated: Prior to Tuesday's match with APU, the Vulcans retired the #22 jersey of the late Lindsey Poulsen, former UH Hilo standout (2010-13) who passed away last summer after a long battle with ovarian cancer. The Poulsen family was in attendance, along with former teammates and friends.

Celebrating a First: After the celebration of Lindsey's life, the Vulcans celebrated with their first-ever victory over Azusa Pacific. UH Hilo built an early lead with goals from Jaimie Salas (15^th minute) and Lucy Maino (62^nd minute), both on assists from Callye Lahmann, and then held on as the Cougars pulled within one score with a counter at 73:06. But the Vulcan defense kept APU out of the net the rest of way, gaining their inaugural victory over the Cougars in their sixth try (1-3-2 all-time).

Silencing the Silverswords: Very fresh in their memories was a 0-0 tie with rival Chaminade just one week prior, giving the Vulcans plenty of motivation to make amends on Sept. 29. They did, using scores from Leighana Weaver and Tiera Arakawa, along with stifling defense to get the shutout. Arakawa also had an assist on the Weaver goal, and goalkeeper Bailey Cahill recorded her third shutout of the season.

Defensive Dominance: UH Hilo has given up just three goals in six matches, which includes 40 minutes of overtime in addition to regulation play. Junior goalkeeper Bailey Cahill has a 0.47 Goals Against Average and was honored last week for her shutout work by being named the Pacific West Conference Defender of the Week (Sept. 24).

Tiera's Climb: Senior Tiera Arakawa now has two goals and two assists in 2018 to lead her team in scoring. That also gives the four-year veteran from Maui ten career goals and three assists, for 23 points. That puts her eighth on UH Hilo's all-time list, just behind seventh place Kelly White (26). UH Hilo's all-time leader scorer is Kristine Pasek (2011-14) with 53 points. Arakawa's ten goals ties her for sixth in that category with Alyssa Salvador (2008-09), with Pasek the all-time leader with 25.

Last Minute Deals: Two of the goals that the Vulcans have given up this year came as last-minute surprises. In the season opener against Eckerd (Fla.), the Tritons tied the match at 1-1 by scoring a goal with just 50 seconds remaining in regulation—sending the match to overtime and an eventual 1-1 tie. Against UC San Diego, the opponent scored with TWO seconds left in the first half which proved to be enough for a 1-0 win.

Tough Customer: The Vulcans' 1-0 loss to UC San Diego, their only loss of the season, is a moral victory of sorts, considering that the Tritons are now 9-0-1 on the year and ranked No. 1 in the latest national poll.

Travel Trio: The Vulcans hit the road this week for an unusual sequence of matches. They will begin with a Tuesday match (Oct. 2) in Lacey, Wash. against Saint Martin's of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC). The Vulcans and Saints haven't met since 2007, when the Vulcans won 3-1. The Saints began the year 4-1, but then moved into GNAC play, one of the top soccer conferences in the nation. They are 0-4 in the GNAC, having most recently lost to No. 17 Western Washington (4-0) and No. 10 Concordia Ore. (3-0). St. Martin's has dropped four in a row and will look to get back on track against the Vulcans. Kiersten Madsen leads SMU with five goals and two assists. UH Hilo will return to PacWest play on Thursday (Oct. 4) against Academy of Art, who is 6-4 overall and 1-3 in conference action. The Urban Knights had a five-match win streak before beginning PacWest play with a 1-0 loss to conference favorite Fresno Pacific, and they are now 1-3 in conference action. Anissa Wilson paces her team with four goals and two assists. The Vulcans won the lone match played between the schools last year (4-0) in Keaau, and UH Hilo leads the all-time series, 6-2-1. A Saturday match at Holy Names wraps up the trip in Oakland. The Hawks are 2-5 on the season, coming off a 3-2 overtime non-conference win over Cal State East Bay on Saturday. They began the year with the same 3-2 OT score/victory over UC Merced, but dropped the five matches in between including a 5-0 PacWest loss to Dominican. The Vulcans won the only match played versus the Hawks last year, at home (2-0), and UH Hilo leads the all-time series, 4-1-1.

Around the Loop: Point Loma is the PacWest leader with a perfect 3-0 mark in conference play, and they are an impressive 7-1 overall. They were the only PWC team listed in the west region top 10 poll at No. 7 (Sept. 25). Their only loss this season was in their opener, 2-1 to No. 17 nationally ranked Western Washington. They have since reeled off seven straight wins, all shutouts…Biola is next in the standings with a 2-0 PWC mark (4-3-2 overall). Only Point Loma, Biola, UH Hilo and Academy of Art have winning overall records.

What's Next: After this trio of road matches, the Vulcans will return home for six consecutive games, beginning with a October 11 match-up against Concordia.

The Coach: Gene Okamura enters into his third season as the leader of the women's soccer program at UH Hilo in 2018, after also leading the men's team for two years. 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. He now has a career record with the UH Hilo women's team of 15-17-7.