The 2018 UH Hilo women's soccer team had one of the best seasons in school history, finishing 10-4-2 overall and 7-3-1 in the Pacific West Conference. They tied for second in the PWC, and just missed an NCAA postseason berth by a slot or two.

But 11 seniors from that squad graduated in the spring, leaving head coach Gene Okamura with the challenge of replacement and replication. The fourth-year leader did the leg work, signing 15 new Vulcans, including nine transfers.

Okamura will get his first "live" look at his new team this Saturday (Sept. 7) when the Vulcans begin a four-match road trip to northern California and Idaho, opening 2019 against Cal State Monterey Bay. That match begins at 3 p.m. Pacific time, and is followed by Cal State East Bay on Monday, Northwest Nazarene on Thursday and Central Washington on Saturday (Sept. 14).

"It's a good group for sure," Okamura said. "It's also made up of a lot of new pieces. It may take some time for everyone to get comfortable with each other and this road trip will be a good beginning for that process."

Most of the stars seemed to align for the Vulcans in '18 behind their solid defense and opportune scoring. They notched their first-ever victory over Azusa Pacific, and they finished the year with three straight victories on the road, winning by a combined score of 8-1. They played the top two teams in the entire west region, UC San Diego and Point Loma, to 1-0 narrow losses.

When it was all said and done, five of Okamura's seniors earned All-PacWest honors. That's a lot of firepower to replace.

"That was a great class," Okamura confirmed. "But we also have plenty of talent returning and had a very good recruiting class. Our overall depth has increased, and the new players are grasping the ideas and concepts of how we want to play pretty quickly."

Having a few tests before opening the season would be nice, but that isn't how things work on the Big Island in Hawai`i. There are no other teams to scrimmage, no exhibition matches available for testing.

"That's something we are always up against," Okamura confirmed. "For instance, Cal State East Bay will have had three scrimmages and a match before we play them. We just don't have that luxury. But getting four regular season matches in eight days will be a good test for us, it simulates what life is like in the PacWest."

After those four matches, the Vulcans will have two weeks off before hosting Hawai`i Pacific on Saturday, Sept. 28. All of UH Hilo's home matches in 2019 will be played on campus on the baseball practice field.

The Vulcans gave up just 10 scores in 16 matches last fall, and defense will be a strong point for them again in 2019. They lost all-conference defensive selections Lucy Maino and Maleni Avalos to graduation, but return First-Team All-PacWest defender Jodi Lillie, Second-Team goalkeeper Bailey Cahill and starter Janelle Schwartz.

"Having three of the five back is helpful," Okamura said. "It will be a strength of our team again. We lost some good people, but we should be more dynamic overall. We will have more diversity in style and mentality than we have had in the past."

Lillie was one of just three freshmen named to the PacWest team last year. Cahill played every minute in the goal for the Vulcans, posting a 0.60 Goals Against Average. Schwartz started 15 matches, missing one because of injury. Fellow defender Jada Macairan returns after playing 14 matches a year ago.

Backing up the keeper Cahill will be fellow senior Ysabela Gabrielle Barin and redshirt-freshman Taylor Hornburg.

On offense, the Vulcans lost their top six scorers to graduation. Sophomore Brende Yoshizumi had a goal and two assists (four points), and Hedda Bjerklund had a pair of scores off the bench to lead the returning goal makers. But gone are All-PacWest picks Tiera Arakawa, Jaimie Salas and Carlie Reader, along with Maino, Callye Lahmann and Avalos.

Other returnees that Okamura hopes will pick up the scoring load include seniors Brianna Valencia (15 starts last year) and Sabrina Scott (5^th year player), and sophomores Kayla Kunihisa and Piper Collado (15 matches as a freshman).

That brings us to that recruiting class. Three of the players played in Division I programs last year—Maisie Paulson (Jacksonville State), Dina Draguicevich (Texas-San Antonio) and Brenna Rill (Univ. of Idaho). Paulson, a sophomore, started 10 of Jacksonville's 18 matches as a freshman. She was named to the Ohio Valley Conference All-Newcomer Team. Draguicevich started 14 matches in 2017 as a freshman at UT-San Antonio, and Rill played in four matches last fall for the Vandals.

Six junior college players are on the transfer list, including four from Big 8 Conference champion Sierra. Camille Strazzo, Christy Jensen, Macey Moen and Christina Kanellou all starred on a Wolverine team that was ranked No. 6 in the final USCJC rankings. Strazzo was the Big 8 Defensive Player of the Year. Kanellou had 25 goals and 12 assists in two seasons.

Crystal Sanchez comes to Hilo via College of the Canyons, where she totaled 15 goals and nine assists in two years. Annie Brejc started 23 of 25 matches at Lake Tahoe CC, leading her team to the CCCAA title match in 2017.

"The transfers are what we expected them to be so far," Okamura said. "They can all step in and play right away, and can do so in a number of different roles."

UH Hilo's freshman class of six includes Hollie Saplan (Hilo HS), Nanea Wall (Konawaena HS), Sophia Dent (San Diego), Katie McGee (Avondale, Ariz.), Jasmin Acosta (Riverside, Calif.) and Vivien Mikes (Poway, Calif.).

"They will all compete for playing time, and some will get quality minutes," Okamura stated.

The Vulcans will have the benefit of playing three of their first four conference matches at home, but will have to play the upper echelon of the PacWest on the road. Last year, they played all of the southern California schools at home. This year, they will play Point Loma, Azusa Pacific, Biola and Concordia on their respective turfs in the southland.

Taking that into consideration, along with the loss of the 11 seniors, the PacWest coaches picked the Vulcans to finish sixth out of 12 teams in the preseason poll. That doesn't bother Okamura too much.

"They picked us ninth last fall and we finished tied for second," Okamura reminded. "We will carry a bit of a chip on our shoulder into the season, to prove that last season wasn't a fluke."