WAIPAHU, Hawai`i—The Hawai`i Hilo Vulcan women's soccer team had to wait a long time to make their 2018 debut, opening about a week later than most teams. When they finally hit the pitch on Friday afternoon on Oahu against Eckerd (Fla.) at Waipio Field, they got their monies worth.

110 minutes worth, to be exact.

The Vulcans and Tritons fought to a 1-1 tie in double overtime, in a match that could not have been much closer on the field and in the stat column. For Eckerd, it was their third match of the season and they are now 2-0-1 on the year, while UH Hilo begins at 0-0-1.

After a scoreless first 80 minutes, UH Hilo's Carlie Reader gave the Vulcans what looked to be the winning goal and a 1-0 lead at 80:33. Fellow senior Tiera Arakawa sent a corner kick flying from the left side of the field on a hop to Reader, who was right of the goal. Reader took the ball in the air and sent a shot into the left corner of the net, sending her team onto the field in celebration.

Nine minutes later, it still looked like the Vulcans would begin the year with a victory. But on a Triton one-on-one attack, a Vulcan defender and the Eckerd player collided as UH Hilo goalkeeper Bailey Cahill picked up the ball, but a foul was called on the Vulcans, setting up an indirect free kick.

On the free kick, a wild scrum ensued in front of the goal before Triton Lauren Yudin picked up the rebound and dropped it into the net at 89:10, deflating the Vulcans and sending Eckerd into their own celebration.

In the first overtime, the Vulcans had two solid scoring opportunities. The first came on a close range shot by Danika Steele that was saved by a diving Casey Winn just a minute and a half into extra time. The next came on blast from Piper Collado that was blocked in the 97^th minute.

Fatigue set in as neither team was able to get a shot off in the second overtime, and the two weary teams settled for a tie after the completion of a very physical match.

There were 32 fouls called in the match, 20 of them on Eckerd. The Vulcans had 17 shots on the day, the Tritons 15, with both teams tallying seven shots on goal. UH Hilo had 14 corner kicks to Eckerd's seven, and goalkeepers Cahill (UHH) and Winn (EU) both had six saves.

Eckerd began the match with two shots in the first 16 seconds, followed by a corner and another shot less than a minute in. But both teams settled in after that, with the shots even at five each at the break.

The Vulcans will have less than 48 hours to regroup, taking on No. 2 nationally ranked UC San Diego on Sunday at 12:30 pm, also at Waipio Field.


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