University of Hawai`i Hilo women's soccer coach Gene Okamura has four of his top five scorers from a year ago returning to his 2018 squad. In fact, 11 of the 13 players that entered the scoring column in any way, shape or form are back, leading one to believe that newcomers will have a hard time finding the field for the Vulcans.

That wouldn't be exactly true, says the third-year head coach.

"We had a good recruiting class," said Okamura, who will focus on just coaching the Vulcan women this year (he has coached both the men and women the last two years). "Many of the newcomers will play, in fact we may have three freshmen and a couple of transfers starting. I don't know if that is good or bad, but I do know that the new kids are stepping up and making an impact."

Okamura and the Vulcans will test the mix of returnees and newcomers this week, when they open the 2018 season on Oahu for neutral site matches against Eckerd (Florida) on Friday, and powerhouse UC San Diego on Sunday. Eckerd comes to Hawai`i 2-0, opening the year with wins over fellow Florida schools Webber International (9-0) and Johnson & Wales (1-0). UC San Diego comes to the island with a lofty No. 2 national ranking and a 2-0-1 record, which includes a win over No. 5 ranked Western Washington.

"It's a rough way to start, especially since they both already have matches under their belts," Okamura confirmed. "But it is a great test for us early, to see where we are and have an example of where we want to be."

Even with newcomers playing, it's Okamura's veterans that will play the largest role in leading the Vulcans to where they want to be.

Nine seniors dot the 2018 roster, including four who started on a team that went 7-9-1 in 2017. Dual scoring leaders Jaimie Salas and Carlie Reader (12 points each) will lead the way after arriving a year ago from four-year schools. Salas came from Arizona State and Reader arrived from Chico State, and both made huge and immediate impacts. The duo had five goals and a pair of assists each on the year.

Local product Bryana-Marie Ebbers (Kamehameha School) was right behind those two with four goals and two assists. Ebbers, now a junior, and senior Tiera Arakawa (two goals, one assist) started in all 17 matches for Okamura and could very well do the same this season. Arakawa (Makawao, Hawaii) also started every match as a sophomore and her name was called out with the starting line-up for more than half the matches her freshman year in 2015.

Senior defender Lucy Maino started every match as well last fall, while fellow seniors Sabrina Scott (17 matches), Danika Steele (15 matches) and Leighana Weaver (16 matches) all saw game time. Additional  seniors that give Okamura experience include Clarissa Guerrero, Maleni Avalos and Callye Lahmann.

"This group did a great job last spring in practice, setting the tone and playing with new concepts that we put in," Okamura said of his leadership group.

Rounding out the group of letterwinners are juniors Hedda Bjerklund, Madison Gates, Dior Motas and Brianna Valencia, along with sophomores Ysabela Gabrielle Barin and Jada Macairan.

While that is an impressive group of experience, Okamura will still count on a batch of newcomers to supplement the returnees.

Two junior transfers from Santa Rosa JC pushing for starting time are midfielder Janelle Schwartz and goalkeeper Bailey Cahill. Both played on a very good Bear Cub team that reached the quarterfinals of the California Junior College State tournament last year. Santa Barbara CC transfer Blayne Shoffit could make an impact when she gets cleared to play.

Even with a large number of returnees and the trio of transfers, Okamura still believes there will be freshmen on the pitch.

Defender Jodi Lillie was a first-team all-state selection last year at Mililani (Hawaii) and also named the Defender of the Year by All-Hawaii Girls Soccer. Fellow islanders Piper Collado (Pearl City) and Brende Yoshizumi (Kamehameha-Kapalama) will be in the mix for starting time, with Kyanna Torres-Kaiwi (Lahainaluna HS/Maui) and Kayla Kunihisa (Maryknoll) fighting for action, too.

Hailey Briseno, a red-shirt last year, along with fellow California freshmen Alexis Berlin (San Ramon) and Taylor Hornburg (Exeter) round out the squad.

One position where there will be a newcomer for sure is in the net. Four-year starter Jenna Hufford is gone, with Cahill, Barin and Hornburg fighting to replace her. Cahill had a 0.71 goals against average at Santa Rosa, while Barin saw action in just three matches behind Hufford.

While Okamura will learn much in seeing his team against Eckerd and UC San Diego (both teams with the mascot of Tritons) this week, he will seek more answers on the same island two weeks later at Hawaii Pacific and Chaminade. The match against the Sharks (Sept. 20) will be one of two against HPU this year and will be non-conference, but the bout with the Silverswords (Sept. 22) will serve as UH Hilo's PacWest opener.

Speaking of the PacWest, the league's coaches didn't think a ton of the Vulcan's chances this year in conference play. Okamura's team was picked to finish ninth of 12 PWC teams, with Fresno Pacific landing the favorite's role, followed by Azusa Pacific and Concordia. UH Hilo's first home match will be on Sept. 25 against APU at Kamehameha School.

The conference lost two teams this past year—California Baptist to Division I, and Dixie State to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Nonetheless, Okamura sees the PacWest as an ever improving conference, tougher each year.

"There are a lot of solid teams in this conference, the quality is very high," he echoed. "It seems to get better each year, challenging all of us to get better as well."