HILO, Hawai'i – The Vulcans mounted a three-unanswered scoring fury but Fresno Pacific quickly evened the match as the teams played to a 3-3 tie Saturday afternoon in Pacific West Conference play at the Vulcan Soccer Field.
The Sunbirds came out hot with two early scores both set up by long-range through balls from midfield. Fabricio Pozas Saboya and AntonioAngel Lepe were the two beneficiaries as they netted goals in the 10th and 17th minutes, respectively.
With time winding down in the first half, Tom Vorkastner (Tangstedt, Germany/Gymnasium Heidberg) intercepted an errant Sunbirds pass to reverse field and drew a foul inside the penalty area to set up a penalty-kick score by Koki Hamada (Kita, Tokyo, Japan/High Mowing School).
Less than 10 minutes into the second half, Wataru Muto (Chiba, Japan/Yachiyo HS) took a free kick in front of the Vulcans bench and bent the long-range launch over toward the far side of the goal as Andrew Rehedul (El Paso, Texas/Chapin HS) tapped the ball to Hamada for the quick strike to even the match at 2-2.
Following the score, Hamada was assessed a red card making him unable to return to the game while forcing the Vulcans to play the remainder of the game with one-less player on the field.
In the final minutes, Aidan Santos (Hilo, Hawai'i/Hawai'i Prep Academy) found a wide-open lane down the field and drew another foul inside the penalty area to set up another penalty kick — this time Alexander Hernandez-Herbach (Pasadena, California/Pasadena HS) hitting the conversion to give the Vulcans a 3-2 lead.
But just a mere 41 seconds later, FPU's Jyson Ayala connected with Julian Aran Martin's head for the equalizing score.
What's Next
Hawai'i Hilo moved to 3-4-4 overall, 2-1-2 PacWest while Fresno Pacific moved to 0-4-1 PacWest (2-8-2 overall).
The Vulcans will play their final home game of the season Tuesday, Oct. 18 against Holy Names (3-2-0 PacWest, 5-4-3 overall).
It will also be Senior Day with five Vulcans being honored following Tuesday's match.
The Sunbirds will travel to O'ahu to take on Chaminade and Hawai'i Pacific.
