HILO, Hawai'i – The Vulcans bookended the Warriors with both an early goal and a last-minute score as Tom Vorkastner found the back of the net twice to power the Hawai'i Hilo Men's Soccer team past Westmont, 3-2, Thursday afternoon in Pacific West Conference action at the Vulcan Soccer Field.
It was a 1-1 score at halftime but it was short-lived through the start of the second half as Westmont immediately took the lead on a long connection from Landon Amaral to Connor Lynch just 30 seconds in.
But less than 10 minutes later, Colby Lee sent in a 30-yard shot that deflected off the Westmont keeper's hands for Vorkastner to clean up for his second score of the season.
With time winding down, Aidan Santos countered on an errant Warriors pass at midfield and sent it forward for Vorkastner to scoot through for the game-winning goal 16 yards out in the 86th minute. Vorkastner's pair of goals were his second and third on the season.
This season is the first for the Warriors competing in the PacWest Conference and they came into today's match sporting an unbeaten record in league play.
The Vulcans' first goal came courtesy Gabriel Gallardo taking advantage of an errant pass by the Warriors' keeper as he snagged the ball just inside the top of the penalty box and turned quickly to send the ball through the top-right corner for the early lead.
Hawai'i Hilo out shot Westmont, 15-10, but both teams were even with seven shots on goal.
UP NEXT
Hawai'i Hilo moved to 7-5-0 (4-2-0 PacWest) while Westmont moved to a 3-1-0 conference record (3-6-2 overall).
The Vulcans will have three more home contests coming up with Point Loma (Oct. 21), Concordia University Irvine (Oct. 30) and Azusa Pacific (Nov. 4) before the regular-season finale on O'ahu against Chaminade on Nov. 12.
For the time being, Hawai'i Hilo sits at No. 2 in the league standings behind Point Loma (4-1-0 PacWest).
ONLINE TICKETS
Single-game tickets are now available to be purchased online through Hawai'i Hilo Vulcans Athletics' recently launched online ticket platform in partnership with AudienceView Campus.
Tickets for all soccer, women's volleyball and men's and women's basketball home events are available at HiloAthletics.com/tickets.
