LACEY, Wash.--Less than 48 hours after one of the most impressive and stunning victories in UH Hilo men's soccer history, the Vulcans came back down to earth during a 4-1 loss to Saint Martin's on Thursday afternoon at the SMU Soccer Field.
The Vulcans move to 1-1 on the season with the loss, while St. Martin's improves to 2-4. It was the first home match of the year for the Saints, and it was the second match of a three-game swing in Washington for the Vulcans, who will play at Seattle Pacific on Saturday night (7 pm).
On Tuesday (Sept. 11) in Bellingham, the Vulcans turned back numerous Western Washington opportunities, stunning the nationally ranked Vikings, 1-0. Thursday, on a cool and cloudy day, the Saints also created opportunities, many of them stopped by the Vulcans, but they also struck paydirt four times--twice in the first half and twice in the second.
It was a busy day for UH Hilo goalkeeper
Nick Williams. He faced 27 shots, 16 of them on goal. Four of those sixteen found the net, while Williams saved a career-high 12 SMU attempts.
Saint Martin's first got on the board in the 22nd minute when a corner kick from Sebastian Navarro looped high over the defense and Williams, landing in the right-hand upper corner of the goal. The Saints added insurance with just a little over five minutes left before the half when Brandon Madsen surged from a pack of Saints during a forward attack to shoot the ball past Williams. When the first half ended, the Saints had a two-goal lead and a 16-2 shot advantage over their visitors.
The second half played out much differently, at least through the first 20 minutes. The shots evened out, and the Vulcans pulled to within one score in the 54th minute when
Matt Wilkinson converted a penalty kick to make the count 2-1. On the play previous, UHH's
Bryan Gonzalez had been pulled down the box, awarding Wilkinson with the shot and the 6-2 junior flicked it in with his left foot.
20 minutes into the second half, the Vulcans had more second-half shots than the Saints and the momentum had seemingly shifted. But in the 66th minute, Martin Lopez sent a long cross to Jason Fairhurst who found himself one-on-one with Williams, and Fairhurst won that battle. The Saint added the finisher at 77:14 when Will Eldred found the scoring column to make the final count, 4-1.
The Vulcans finished with eight shots in the match, three of them on goal. The Saints had 27 shots, seven of them by Cayman John. 16 of SMU's shots were on goal.
