This Week in Vulcan Women's Soccer
Record: 1-4-2 (0-1 PWC)

Wednesday, Oct. 9 vs. Notre Dame de Namur (4-3-2/1-1 PWC), UHH Campus Field, 4:30 pm

Let's Play Three: The UH Hilo women's soccer team will kick off a three-match homestand on Wednesday (Oct. 9) versus Notre Dame de Namur. Start time is 4:30 p.m. This year, "home" means in Hilo and on campus. The Vulcans will play all seven of their home tilts this fall on the upper field (they played at Kamehameha School the past three seasons). Plans for a new on-campus soccer complex is in the works and is expected to be completed by 2020 or 2021.
 
Red and Free: Vulcan fans are encouraged to wear red on Wednesday for the annual Red Out Game. All fans wearing red will have their names entered into a halftime drawing for "soccer fan bags." In 2019, there is free admission for UH Hilo (and HCC) students, faculty and staff.
 
Streaming Live: All Vulcan home matches are now available (for the first time) via pay-per-view through the Vulcan website at hiloathletics.com. Live Stats (free) can also be accessed through the same venue. To do either, go to the website and to Women's Soccer. Click on the Schedule, and follow the links. Cost for a single game is $7.95 and a Season Pass can be had for $39.95. A Season Pass for both women's and men's soccer costs just $49.95.
 
Fit to be Tied: The Vulcans need a batch of good luck as they head into the Pacific West Conference portion of their season. They have two ties on their ledger, and four one-goal losses. Two of those setbacks came on sudden death overtime scores and the other two came late in regulation. Despite a 1-4-2 record, the Vulcans have nearly as many goals as their opponents (8-10) and have more shots (61-45).

Spreading the Wealth: UH Hilo has scored eight goals in seven matches, and seven different Vulcans have found the back of the net. Freshman Nanea Wall leads the way with two goals and an assist, with Crystal Sanchez contributing a goal and two assists. The other Vulcan scores have come from Brenna Rill, Christy Jensen, Annie Brejc, Camille Strazzo and Brianna Valencia. Brende Yoshizumi has two assists.

Taking Aim: The Vulcans have 61 shots on goal thus far, compared to 45 for their opponents. Total shots is closer, with UH Hilo firing 106, their opponents 105. Crystal Sanchez leads the Vulcans in total shots (18) and shots on goal (11).

NDNU Notes: Notre Dame de Namur wraps up the Hawaii portion of their schedule with their third match in six days. The Argonauts opened their island swing with a 2-0 win over Hawaii Pacific, and then fell to Chaminade, 2-1 and are now 4-3-1 on the season and 1-1 in the PacWest. They have wins in 2019 over Holy Names (2-1), Academy of Art (2-1, 2 OT), and Cal State East Bay (4-2). The Argonauts are fifth in the PacWest in scoring with ten goals, but have also given up the second most in the conference with 13. NDNU was picked to finish eighth in the PacWest Preseason Poll, and seniors Susan Whitney (forward) and Vanessa Sanchez (mid) were named to the All-Preseason Team. The Vulcans defeated the Argos in Belmont last year (4-0) to take the lead in the all-time series, 8-7-2.

Around the PacWest: With conference play just underway, preseason favorite Point Loma is already in first place with a 2-0 record. But the conference could be bunched this year, as already just one or two matches into the season, all but three teams already have a blemish (loss or tie). Regionally, the PacWest isn't getting much love yet, with the United Soccer West Region rankings looking like this….(1) UC San Diego 6-0-1, (2) Cal State LA 5-1-0, (3) Western Washington 5-2-0, (4) Sonoma State 6-2-0, (5) Stanislaus State 6-1-0, (6) Chico State 5-2-1, (7) Cal Poly Pomona 5-2-0, (8) Azusa Pacific 4-2-1, (9) Seattle Pacific 4-4-0, (10) Cal State Monterey Bay 6-1-1.

Last Year: The Vulcans went 10-4-2 overall and 7-3-1 in the Pacific West Conference, finishing tied for second place. They lost 11 seniors off that team and five All-PacWest selections.

The Coach: Gene Okamura is in his fourth season of leading the UH Hilo women's soccer program. A former player that was on the very first UH Hilo men's soccer team in 2006, Okamura also coached the men for two seasons (2016 and 2017), pulling double duty. In three-plus seasons leading the Vulcan women, the Hilo native is now 23-24-9.

What's Next: The Vulcans remain home with matches next week on Wednesday (Oct. 16) against Dominican and Saturday (Oct. 19) versus Fresno Pacific. Both games will kick off at 4:30 p.m.