In her first game as a Vulcan, fifth-year-senior transfer Grace VerHage had an immediate impact with two goals scored in Hawai'i Hilo women's soccer's win last week to further earn Pacific West Conference Player of the Week honors as announced Tuesday afternoon.
The former Ferris State University Bulldog found the back of the net in the 28th and 65th minute to help lead the Vulcans to a 4-1 victory over Cal State East Bay in their season opener on O'ahu.
Concordia Irvine goalkeeper Riley Urquiza was named PacWest Defender of the Week after the Golden Eagles tied with No. 10 Western Washington, 1-1, and then shut out Simon Fraser 1-0.
CUI was also selected as the PacWest Team of the Week.
LEAVING MICHIGAN
A native from the southwest region of Michigan, VerHage wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do as her time in her hometown at Otsego High School neared the end in 2018.
A multi-sport athlete in cross country and basketball, VerHage thought she'd go the running route to compete in college. But prior to her senior year, she returned to playing club soccer in the fall to dedicate herself to the sport, and along the way, she set a new all-time school record with over 100 career goals scored before ultimately landing an hour and a half north at Ferris State University.
Despite the tough competition in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with the likes of seven-time NCAA Division II National Champion Grand Valley State University, the Bulldogs and VerHage shined with setting the single-season program record for wins her freshman season and claiming the GLIAC regular season title and GLIAC Tournament Championship her junior and senior seasons, respectively.
VerHage was the team leader in goals scored both years and earned a barrage of conference, regional and national honors.
With the COVID-19 pandemic allowing an additional year of eligibility for student-athletes who competed during the 2020-21 season, VerHage again was unsure of what her future path would be.
"I knew my chapter at Ferris had closed after my last season. I just felt good with leaving it how it was," VerHage said, who entered the transfer portal in March 2022. "My coach at Ferris wanted me to stay, but I always joked if I'm going to play my fifth year, it was going to be somewhere in Hawai'i or Florida."
THE DECISION
Although having a bachelor's of science in finance and a job to start in May earlier this year, VerHage's true focus was set on playing professionally overseas in Europe.
"You play your last game and you can either feel, 'OK, this chapter is closed,' or, 'it's not,' and it absolutely was not. I cannot settle with the fact that I just don't play again. I just knew it wasn't over yet," VerHage said.
What started as a joke soon came closer and closer to fruition thanks to a connection through mutual friends with former Hawai'i Hilo men's soccer player Luca Lippert (2020-22). With some convincing, she and women's soccer head coach Gene Okamura got in contact.
"Everyone was like, 'Hawai'i's a great option,' but also you never get to say you're a professional athlete either. It was something I was struggling with," VerHage said. "After talking with Gene, it just seemed so right and it just felt like home."
With most European soccer seasons not starting until August, it wouldn't be until a month prior when teams would begin reaching out to find their missing pieces. It was a matter of waiting, and after another conversation in May, VerHage told Okamura that she would be going to Europe. But after a month's time, Okamura checked in again, and this time, VerHage made her decision.
"After I thought about it more, not everyone gets blessed with a fifth year. The more I thought about it, the more I got serious about Hawai'i. I was like, 'shoot, maybe this is where I want to go.' Ten-year-old me always wanted to live in Hawai'i so, 'why not do it now?'"
FIT FOR HAWAI'I
Perhaps VerHage was always meant to be in Hawai'i with her already being on Hawaiian Time (tardy or late) on both of her collegiate commitments.
"It was obviously a little bit late but that's how I usually do it," VerHage joked.
The Vulcans opened their season last Thursday on O'ahu against Cal State East Bay at the neutral site of the Saint Louis Field at Chaminade University. While providing not nearly as nice of a backdrop as in Hilo, the views from Kalaepohaku provided more than enough of what VerHage needed.
"When I played at Ferris, I'd always get these jitters that would go the entire game; like high blood pressure the entire time," VerHage said. "When we started the match, the first 10 minutes I had those jitters again. But everything's so relaxed here and I told myself to just chill out and it felt like I was playing in high school again just for fun. I wasn't overthinking and I was just having so much fun. I was on a beautiful island scoring on goalkeepers with beautiful mountains behind."
Many people think about moving to Hawai'i or at least going to college here but end up balking on making the move. For VerHage, the roughly 4,200-mile move has been everything and more that she could have dreamed of.
"If you would have asked 18-year-old Grace, 'where do you think you would be in four years?,' it definitely would not have been in Hawai'i," VerHage said. "It's been fantastic. I was telling Gene my mental health is so incredible here. Oh my gosh, I'm just so happy all the time and so grateful to go out everyday."
While VerHage has put her professional-playing aspirations on hold, there's still the option of joining a team in the Scandinavian leagues that start in early 2023.
"But I think with how it's going so far and just loving every second of it, this might be a good season to close that chapter on," VerHage said. "It's been a blessing and it's more concerning that I have to go home in December when there's snow on the ground."
