IRVINE, California – This time there is no sharing as the University of Hawai'i Hilo Vulcans earned the 2022 Pacific West Conference title outright, going 3-0-1 through the southern California gauntlet last week.
The Vulcans' Grace VerHage helped with the clinch at Azusa with three goals.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Vulcans forward Grace VerHage scored three goals in less than 26 minutes during Hilo's fast start against Azusa Pacific on Saturday. UH Hilo topped the Cougars, 3-1, to clinch the PacWest title outright with a week to go in the regular season.
The Ferris State transfer also scored in a 3-1 win over Concordia and had an assist in UHH's 2-2 draw with Point Loma.
VerHage is the only player in the conference this year to notch a hat trick (three goals in one match) and now has 11 goals on the season and 25 points, both tops in the PacWest.
NO SHARING THIS TIME FOR VULCANS
The PacWest Team of the Week is the HAWAI'I HILO VULCANS. UH Hilo wrapped up its regular season one week early but also wrapped up the PacWest Championship banner at the same time.
The Vulcans went through their ten PacWest contests unbeaten at 8-0-2 (26 points) and are now 13-0-3 overall. UH Hilo, under head coach Gene Okamura, shared their first-ever PacWest crown in 2021 with Point Loma.
This past week's schedule in southern California was marked on their calendars in red all season, and they paraded through unblemished. They topped Biola, 3-0, tied the Sea Lions, 2-2, and swamped Concordia and Azusa Pacific by 3-1 counts. On the season, Hawai'i Hilo has outscored its opponents 43-8.
They will learn more about their postseason when the next regional ranking, which had them No. 3 last week, is announced on Wednesday.
PACWEST POSTS THREE FOR POSTSEASON (so far)
The first official NCAA Division II West Region rankings came out last week, and three PacWest Conference teams were listed in the first six playoff spots. Point Loma (1), Hawai'i Hilo (3) and Concordia (6) are in postseason contention, with the next poll coming out this Wednesday.
The Sea Lions went 1-0-2 since the release of that poll, while the Vulcans were 2-0-1 and Concordia went 2-1.
No. 2 Western Washington went 2-1 last week, No. 4 Northwest Nazarene was 1-1, No. 5 Sonoma State 1-0, No. 7 Seattle Pacific 2-0-1 and No. 8 Stanislaus State went 1-0.
The final listing of the top six one week from now will determine the west region NCAA tournament field, with each conference winner gaining an automatic berth.
PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES
Chaminade tied Point Loma on their SoCal trip, giving the Silverswords draws on their result sheet with both the Sea Lions and Hawai'i Hilo…Last week's PacWest Player of the Week Teani Arakawa had both goals against Point Loma in their 2-2 tie…Biola goalkeeper Savanna Tavares had five saves in the Eagles' shutout of Chaminade…Holy Names keeper Alexis Aguilar had seven saves in a 0-0 draw with Dominican…Azusa Pacific's Bethany Tee scored both goals in APU's 2-0 victory over Hawai'i Pacific…Fresno Pacific busted out with five scores in a 5-0 clubbing of Academy of Art, using goals from five different players…Dominican's Danielle Gonzalez accounted for both Penguin goals in their 2-0 upset of Fresno Pacific…2021 PacWest Defender of the Year Viviana Poli returned to the Vulcan line-up this week after missing most of the season with an injury and had 12 saves in two matches.
LOOKING AHEAD
While Hawai'i Hilo recoups and waits, there are plenty of big matches this coming week in the final regular season matches of the season. Second place Point Loma (17 points) will visit Academy of Art on Thursday and Dominican on Saturday, while third place Concordia (16 points) will flip that script with playing at Dominican (Thursday) and Academy of Art (Saturday). Additionally, fourth place Fresno Pacific (15 points) hosts Azusa Pacific on Saturday and fourth place Chaminade (15 points) hosts rival Hawai'i Pacific.
