MEN'S SOCCER WEEKLY
UH Hilo Overall Record: 1-6             UHH PacWest Record: 0-2

Vulcans travel to bay area to face Urban Knights, Hawks                                                          
Thursday, Oct. 4, 10:30 a.m.PT: @ Academy of Art (1-6-1 overall / 0-3-1 PacWest)—San Francisco
Saturday, Oct. 6, 11 a.m.PT: @ Holy Names (2-5-1 overall / 1-0 PacWest)--Oakland
(Link to Live Stats for all matches available at www.hiloathletics.com)
 
Hilo Headlines: The Vulcans take their first of two road trips to the bay area this year, taking on Academy of Art on Thursday and Holy Names on Saturday. UH Hilo is coming off a pair of improved performances, albeit losses to Azusa Pacific and Chaminade at home.

Cougar Awakening: The Vulcans had first-place Azusa Pacific in a stunned state after scoring twice in the first nine minutes of last Tuesday's match at Paiea Stadium. Jorge Martinez got it started at 2:42, taking a low cross from Christian Ohly, and heading it into the goal. At nine minutes, Matt Wilkinson deposited a penalty kick putting UH Hilo up two scores. But the Cougars, now 7-1-1 on the year, woke up on the second half with four goals to take the 4-2 final and escape the upset attempt.

Revenge was Close: Just one week after falling 4-2 to Chaminade in Honolulu, the Vulcans played a completely different match in the sequel one week later against the Silverswords at Kamehameha. The first 90 minutes was a defensive standoff, but Chaminade ended the match 43 seconds into overtime to send the heartbroken Vulcans to a 1-0 defeat.

Busy Man: Senior goalkeeper Nick Williams has been a busy man thus far in the season. He had 12 saves against St. Martin's on Sept. 13, tying the UH Hilo single-match record in that category, now shared with Paul Elias (2011 vs. Dixie State). He had ten more against Hawai`i Pacific and now has 46 on the season. That puts him tenth all-time for a single season, just seven matches into the year. The single-season UH Hilo record for saves is shared by Yonha Andrabi (2012) and Marc Fournier (2006) with 67.

By the Numbers: Junior transfer Matt Wilkinson (England/Santa Barbara CC) leads the Vulcans with four goals, three of them on penalty kicks. Fellow newcomers Bryan Gonzalez (Aurora, Colo./Otero JC), Pedro Werneck (Brazil/West Valley College) and Jorge Martinez (Madrid, Spain/Campbellsville U) also have scores, while Alen Acosta and Christian Ohly have assists. Werneck leads the Vulcans with 14 shots on the season.

Knights and Hawks: The Vulcans will try to pick up their first PacWest victory of the season with matches on the road in San Francisco and Oakland this week. Academy of Art is the opponent on Thursday (Oct. 4), also looking for its first conference win. The Urban Knights are 0-3-1 in the PacWest, picking up a point with a 2-2 tie against Dominican. They have a win from the first weekend of the season, in overtime against Cal State Monterey Bay (1-0). AAU has won the last four meetings versus the Vulcans, and leads the all-time series, 6-5. Holy Names awaits the Vulcans for a Saturday match (Oct. 6). The Hawks are 1-0 in the PacWest, courtesy of a 2-0 win over Dominican. They are 2-5-1 overall, after beginning the year winless in their first five tries, they topped the Penguins and UC Santa Cruz. Mariano Alatorre was named the PacWest Freshman of the Week, scoring a pair of goals on the week. Holy Names won the lone match played between the Hawks and Vulcans last season, but UH Hilo leads the all-time series, 3-2-1.

Around the Loop: Azusa Pacific has won four in a row, which includes the win over the Vulcans, to improve to 7-1-1 on the year and to 3-0 to lead the PacWest. Fresno Pacific (5-1-1/2-1) and Point Loma (6-3/2-1) are the only other two conference teams with winning records thus far. APU is ranked fifth in the west region, with Point Loma tenth. Simon Fraser is ranked No. 1 in the west and nationally with a perfect 8-0 record.

What's Next: After this week's bay area matches, the Vulcans will return home for four consecutive bouts, Oct. 11-23. That stand begins with the Oct. 11 (Thursday) match versus Concordia at Kamehameha School in Keaau.

An Opener to Remember: New leader Paul Regrutto won't soon forget his 2018 debut, when the Vulcans pulled off a 1-0 stunning upset of Western Washington in Bellingham. Despite being out-shot 29-3, UH Hilo scored the lone goal of the match on Matt Wilkinson's shot (Alen Acosta assist). The week previous, the Vikings were ranked No. 13 nationally. "I don't think that I have ever been a part of a match where a team was out-shot 29-3 and still won," Regrutto said afterwards. "We made a lot of game-saving tackles and just didn't give them a clear shot at anything."

The Coach: Paul Regrutto returns to Hawai`i Hilo, the same place that he began his coaching career in 2006. That inaugural Vulcan team finished 5-9-1. He spent the bulk of his coaching career at his alma mater, Colorado State-Pueblo, where he was the head women's coach from 2013-16. He had a 36-31-6 overall record for the Thunderwolves, including a 14-5-1 mark in 2016, leading CSU-Pueblo to their first-ever NCAA berth. He was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. He also served as an assistant coach at Cal State San Bernardino (2012), and from 2007-11 he was the lead assistant for the Thunderwolves men's program.