HILO, Hawai'i – The tremendous run for the back-to-back Pacific West Conference Champions came to an end Saturday afternoon with the Hawai'i Hilo women's soccer team falling to Concordia University Irvine, 2-1, in overtime of the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship West Regional Second Round at the Vulcan Soccer Field.
Following a free-kick restart just under six minutes into the first of two 10-minute overtime periods, CUI's Layla Comeaux intercepted a Vulcans pass and flipped the script with a downfield launch to Riley Walkington, who twisted and turned between two defenders to create the space for a long-range strike from 20 yards out to find the back of the net.
The score remained the rest of the way as CUI claimed victory and advanced to next week's NCAA West Region title game against Western Washington — who defeated Point Loma Nazarene Saturday.
"The goal was to get further in the NCAA tournament and we did it, and we won the conference outright this year," Hawai'i Hilo head coach Gene Okamura said. "We just said how proud we were of them and thanking them for what they have done for our program."
The Golden Eagles out shot the Vulcans at a 14-9 margin (7-5 shots on goal) while limiting Hawai'i Hilo to zero corner kicks.
Daelenn Tokunaga (Waipahu, Hawai'i/Pearl City HS) netted the Vulcans' lone goal in the 28th minute as Grace VerHage (Otsego, Michigan/Otsego HS) and Teani Arakawa (Makawao, Hawai'i/King Kekaulike HS) quickly worked to get the ball downfield for the 2021 PacWest Player of the Year to strike the left-footed score past the goalkeeper.
Jadenn Carrillo hit the equalizing score in the 56th minute from about 22 yards out on a left-footer over the top through three defenders.
What's Next
Hawai'i Hilo ends its season at 13-1-3 overall.
Mahalo for all the support for the Vulcans women's soccer team throughout the season.
Concordia University Irvine improved to 14-4-2 overall and will travel to Bellingham, Washington to second-seeded Western Washington to play for the NCAA West Region title next Thursday. The winner advances to the NCAA Quarterfinal Round and will take on the winner of the South Central Region.
