KEAUU, Hawai`i—Two early Hawai`i Hilo goals stunned visiting Azusa Pacific but it didn't break them as the Cougars rallied in the second half for a 4-2 men's soccer win over the Vulcans on Tuesday at Paiea Stadium.
Gabriel Costa had two goals and an assist, helping his team rally for road victory, their third straight in Hawaii. The Cougars haven't lost since September 1, winning or tying six straight.
The victory kept the first-place Cougars on top of the Pacific West Conference standings with a 3-0 record. They also improved to 6-1-1 overall. The Vulcans fell to 0-2 in the PacWest and 1-5 on the season.
The Vulcans surprised the late arriving crowd and the Cougars with two scores in the first nine minutes of the contest.
Christian Ohly got it started, sprinting down the right sideline and sending a low cross to a diving
Jorge Martinez, who headed the ball into the goal just two minutes and 42 seconds into the match.
Just a little over six minutes later, a scrum in front of the box resulted in a foul on Azusa Pacific, sending UH Hilo's
Matt Wilkinson into penalty kick mode, for the third time this season. Also for the third time this season, the junior from England converted, giving the home team a 2-0 lead at nine minutes even.
That two-goal lead held up through the first 45 minutes, despite numerous legitimate threats from the Cougars. At the break, both teams had three shots on goal, with UH Hilo totaling 10 shots, APU seven.
The momentum changed pretty quickly in the second half. The Cougars had a point blank opportunity in the first minute, blocked by Trent Hooper, but just a few minutes later (49:45), Costa snared a rebound off the cross bar and scored from the top of the box. It was Costa's sixth goal of the season, and he added his seventh in the 63
rd minute, again picking up a blocked shot and pushing it past Vulcan goalie
Nick Williams.
The Cougars kept the pressure on, knocking in the go-ahead goal in the 74
th minute. Costa was again involved, dribbling past a defender on the left side and then flicking a short pass to James Ndubueze for the easy goal to make it 3-2. Grego Diep added the insurance clincher in the 80
th minute, drilling a shot from the top of the box, right side, to account for the final 4-2 tally.
While APU cranked up the offense in the second half, they also clamped down on defense, holding UH Hilo to just two second half shots. For the full 90 minutes, APU had 21 shots, ten on goal. UHH had 12 shots, four of them on goal.
The Vulcans will return to Kamehameha School on Saturday, hosting Chaminade in a 12:30 p.m. match.
