WOMEN'S SOCCER WEEKLY
UH Hilo Overall Record: 7-4-2                        UHH PacWest Record: 4-3-1

Vulcans trek to northern California for final three matches                                           
Monday, Oct. 29, 2:30 pm PT @Dominican (6-6-2 overall / 3-3-1 PWC)—San Rafael
Thursday, Nov. 1, 3 pm PT @ND de Namur (4-10 overall / 3-4 PWC)—Belmont
Saturday, Nov. 3, 7 pm PT @Fresno Pacific (5-9-1 overall / 5-3 PWC)—Fresno
(Link to Live Stats for all matches available at www.hiloathletics.com)

Hilo Headlines: The Vulcans will take the sting of two home losses with them out on the road as they wrap up the 2018 season. They will take on Dominican, Notre Dame de Namur and Fresno Pacific, all teams hovering around the .500 mark.

Double Digit Wins in Sight: UH Hilo has a chance to reach seven conference victories and ten wins overall. Neither have been accomplished since the 2013 season when the Vulcans went 10-4-2 on the year and 7-4-1 in the Pacific West Conference, to tie for fourth.

Pain of 1-0, Twice: The Vulcans lost their final two home matches of the year, falling by the same painful 1-0 count to both Hawaii Pacific and Point Loma. The losses knocked UH Hilo out of the PacWest title chase, but wins/ties in their final three matches can still boost their climb up the final standings ladder. They are currently tied for fifth with Concordia at 4-3-1.

Senior Salute: The Vulcans honored 11 seniors after Monday's match against Point Loma for their contribution to UH Hilo athletics. The 11 seniors are Jaimie Salas, Leighana Weaver, Callye Lahmann, Danika Steele, Lucy Maino, Clarissa Guerrero, Carlie Reader, Dior Motas, Meghan Langbehn, Tiera Arakawa and Maleni Avalos. It's the largest senior class of head coach Gene Okamura's three-year tenure.

Regional Ratings: The second official NCAA West Region rankings are out. There will be two more ratings before the regular season ends, and the final rating will be used to help determine the NCAA tournament field. The champion from the PacWest, the CCAA and the GNAC will automatically qualify, followed by the next four teams in the rating system—so seven total squads in the West Region. Here is the Oct. 24 list…(1) UC San Diego 13-1-1, (2) Western Washington 12-2-1, (3) Concordia Portland 11-1-2 (4) Chico State 8-1-5, (5) Sonoma State 9-2-3, (6) Point Loma 12-1-1, (7) Seattle Pacific 10-4-1, (8) Cal State LA 8-5-2 (9) San Francisco State 10-5-2.

So Close: UH Hilo gave PacWest leader and certain post-season threat Point Loma all that they could handle during a 1-0 loss on Monday night. The battle between the two top defensive teams in the conference was statistically even on paper at the end, except for PLNU's lone goal on the scoreboard. The Sea Lions got the break that they needed on a penalty kick in the 55^th minute, the difference in the match.

Scoring is Optional: In their 13 matches so far in 2018, the Vulcans have scored just 15 goals. Of course, the good news is that they have only given up nine. Everyone else in the PacWest has given up at least 13 goals, with the exception of defensive minded Point Loma, who has allowed just three scores in 15 matches.

Maino's Main Job: Senior defender Lucy Maino's main job is to help keep the other team away from the goal, a job she and her teammates have performed to excellent reviews this year. But Maino also has found another niche—scoring goals on set pieces, and now just scoring goals period. She scored twice in UH Hilo's 3-1 win over Holy Names on Oct. 6, and had the UHH assist in the 1-0 victory over Academy of Art on Oct. 4. She scored again on a long blast against Biola, and now has four goals on the season, two of them on headers. She leads the team in scoring with a total of nine points.

The Buck Stops Here: UH Hilo has given up just nine goals in 13 matches. Junior goalkeeper Bailey Cahill has a 0.65 Goals Against Average, second in the PacWest. She has 39 saves and five shutouts. Cahill, a transfer from Santa Rosa JC, is on pace to challenge for the UHH school record in single season GAA, where she just behind Randi Walters (2008), who finished the year with a 0.59 GAA.

Tiera's Climb: Senior Tiera Arakawa has two goals and four assists in 2018 for a total of eight total points. That also gives the four-year veteran from Maui ten career goals and five assists, for 25 points. That puts her tied for seventh on UH Hilo's all-time list, just behind sixth place Kelly White (26). UH Hilo's all-time leading 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: Four of the nine 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. Against Concordia, the Eagles scored with 25 seconds left in regulation, and then tallied the winning score in the second overtime.

Road Trio: The Vulcans will fly out on Saturday for their final three matches of the year over the course of six days. The trip begins at Dominican, where they will face a Penguin team that is an even .500 in both league and overall play (Dominican will play Fresno Pacific on Saturday before hosting the Vulcans on Monday). They were on a four-match winning streak before a 1-0 loss to Notre Dame de Namur on Sunday. Alyssa Ramos has been tough in the net for the Penguins with a 0.90 GAA and 57 saves, while Michele Li leads the team in scoring with 12 points. Dominican won last year's match in Hilo (2-0), and the Penguins lead the all-time series, 4-2-3. Notre Dame de Namur is the opponent on Thursday. The Argonauts are just 4-10 on the year, but have won back-to-back matches against Holy Names (2-1) and Dominican (1-0). They also have a 3-2 overtime win over Chaminade to their credit this year. Susan Whitney is the Argo's leader scorer this year with five goals and three assists (13 points), more than double anyone else on the team. NDNU defeated the Vulcans 1-0 in Hilo last year, and the all-time series is tied at 7-7-2. The Vulcans will wrap up the season at Fresno Pacific on Saturday (Nov. 3). The Sunbirds will take a two-match win streak into matches against Dominican and Hawaii Pacific before they play the Vulcans, and they have a 5-3 record in PacWest play. The Sunbirds defeated Biola (1-0) and Chaminade (3-1) in the past week and they also have conference victories over Holy Names (5-0), Academy of Art (1-0) and Notre Dame de Namur (3-1). FPU rides the 1-2 scoring punch of Mackenzie Reynolds and Whitney Snow, both who have five goals on the season. The Sunbirds won in Hilo last year (2-1), and they lead the all-time series versus the Vulcans, 3-2-1.

Around the Loop: Point Loma won all three matches that they played in Hawaii to improve to 8-0-1 in the PacWest. That gives them 25 points in the standings, nine more than second-place Azusa Pacific (5-2-1). Fresno Pacific is third (5-3), followed by Biola (4-2-1). UH Hilo is tied with Concordia for fifth at 4-3-1.

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 19-20-7.