SAN DIEGO, California – The No. 9 Hawai'i Hilo women's soccer team continued its hot out-the-gates play with two early scores, but No. 16 Point Loma Nazarene rallied in the second half to draw even to a 2-2 tie Monday afternoon in Pacific West Conference action at the PLNU Soccer Field.
Reigning PacWest Player of the Week Teani Arakawa (Makawao, Hawai'i/King Kekaulike HS) continued right where she left off by netting the Vulcans' two scores on the day.
First, in the sixth minute, courtesy of a big boot down the field by goalkeeper Lolo Retsky (Calabasas, California/Sierra Canyon School) as Grace VerHage (Otsego, Michigan/Otsego HS) fought through two PLNU defenders to tap the ball forward for a racing Arakawa down the middle and in for the score from the top of the penalty area.
Later in the half, the speedy Arakawa capitalized on an errant backward pass by the Sea Lions to win the three-on-one battle zipping back and forth for a 29th-minute score.
Point Loma evened the game in the second half on a corner-kick back-post header by Lauren O'Malley (54th minute) followed by a successful conversion by Emma Thrapp on a penalty kick (69th minute) after Bethany Arabe was fouled inside the penalty box.
Monday's contest was a rematch of last year's de facto conference title game in which Hawai'i Hilo defeated PLNU in overtime to earn the PacWest Conference automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championships West Region.
What's Next
Hawai'i Hilo moved to 11-0-3 overall, 6-0-2 PacWest while Point Loma Nazarene moved to 4-1-1 in the PacWest (9-2-3 overall).
The Vulcans will continue their southern California trip Thursday, Oct. 27 against Concordia University Irvine (3-1-1 PacWest, 8-3-2 overall) at 12:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. local Pacific Time).
PLNU will return home to host Chaminade on Thursday.
Postseason Possibilities
The Pacific 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 6-0-2 record and 20 points.
Chaminade sits at No. 2 with 14 points on a 4-1-2 record followed by Point Loma Nazarene and Concordia University Irvine each with 13 points.
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 last week.
