La MIRADA, California – No waiting around this time as the No. 9 Hawai'i Hilo women's soccer team took just a minute and a half to find the back of the net as part of an early three-score entourage to down Biola, 3-0, Saturday afternoon in Pacific West Conference action at Al Barbour Field.
On a throw-in deep in Eagles-territory, Grace VerHage (Otsego, Michigan/Otsego HS) tapped the ball over to Daelenn Tokunaga (Waipahu, Hawai'i/Pearl City HS) in the center as she found a seam through three defenders to score from about 12 yards out.
Less than 10 minutes later, Alyssa Padron (San Pedro, California/Palos Verdes HS) made a big stop on a Biola-clear attempt to set up a wide-open lane down the middle for Teani Arakawa (Makawao, Hawai'i/King Kekaulike HS) to take off and score.
After another 10 minutes, Filippa Graneld (Stockholm, Sweden/Stockholms Idrottsgymnasium) looked prime to launch for one of her patented long-range goals, but Arakawa's head connected midway with the shot attempt to volley the ball in for the third score.
Gene Five-O
Saturday's win marked Hawai'i Hilo women's soccer head coach Gene Okamura's 50th win both in his career as a women's soccer head coach and as the man in charge of the Vulcans women's soccer program.
"It's pretty special. From 2016 to this point, we've come a long way and hopefully it continues," Okamura said.
Okamura began as the head coach of both the men's and women's soccer teams in 2016 before moving solely to the women's side starting with the 2018 season.
The Vulcans captured their first conference title as Co-PacWest Champions last season with the Hawai'i Hilo '10 alum named as conference coach of the year.
What's Next
Hawai'i Hilo improved to 11-0-2 overall, 6-0-1 PacWest while Biola fell to 2-5-0 in the PacWest (3-10-1 overall).
The Vulcans will continue their southern California trip Monday, Oct. 24 against Point Loma Nazarene (4-1-0 PacWest, 9-2-2 overall) at 10 a.m. (1 p.m. local Pacific Time). The Sea Lions are currently tied at No. 3 in the conference with 12 points.
Biola will return home to host Chaminade on Monday.
Postseason Possibilities
The Pacific West Conference does not have a postseason tournament and its champion is dependent on the final results of the regular season.
Currently, Hawai'i Hilo sits atop the standings with a 6-0-1 record and 19 points. Chaminade follows closely with 14 points on a 4-0-2 record.
The PacWest Champion will receive an automatic spot in the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championships West Region consisting of six teams. Champions from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) and California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) will also receive automatic bids, leaving three at-large spots open.
Hawai'i Hilo made the initial eight-team Division II Women's Soccer West Region rankings released earlier this week.
