HILO, Hawai'i – A late-game Cougars goal evened the score that stayed through to the end as the No. 13 Hawai'i Hilo Women's Soccer team closed its home slate with a 2-2 draw against Azusa Pacific Saturday afternoon in Pacific West Conference play at the Vulcan Soccer Field.
Filippa Graneld shot through the Vulcans' go-ahead goal in the 64th minute, but 10 minutes later, APU's Jaci Maze connected with Aubrey Dunaway for the equalizer.
Both teams scored first-half goals off of corner kicks as Hawai'i Hilo got on the scoreboard first in the eighth minute with Alyssa Padron flushing in Jazlynn Ellis' deflected header attempt off Graneld's cross-in from the corner.
Hailey Hilton headed in Azusa Pacific's first score on a corner kick from Bethany Tee.
Ellis assisted on both of the Vulcans goals.
Following the match, Hawai'i Hilo celebrated its 12 departing seniors: Jazlynn Ellis, Filippa Graneld, Samy Sierra, Alyssa Padron, Miya Clarke, Kierstyn Yamamoto, Zariah Nogales, Juliet Hufford, Adree Johnson, Annie Haglund, Nanea Wall and Megan Donovan.
PUSH FOR POSTSEASON
With one match remaining, Hawai'i Hilo sits at No. 2 in the PacWest Conference with 19 points. The Vulcans will still need help with favorable results from other PacWest matches to clear a path toward claiming a third consecutive conference title.
The Vulcans were unveiled at No. 6 in the NCAA West Regional Rankings released last Wednesday.
The conference champion from each of the PacWest Conference, California Collegiate Athletic Association and Great Northwest Athletic Conference will automatically earn one of the six postseason bids up for grabs, leaving three at-large spots to be determined by the final rankings One more iteration will be released next Wednesday before the announcement of teams at the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, Nov. 13.
UP NEXT
No. 13 Hawai'i Hilo moved to 10-2-2 overall and 6-2-1 in the PacWest while Azusa Pacific moved to a 5-1-3 conference record (8-4-5 overall).
The Vulcans will close out the regular season on O'ahu against Chaminade on Sunday, Nov. 12.
LUCKY 13
The Vulcans came in at No. 13 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Division II Top 25 Poll released last Tuesday, moving back three spots from their previous rank of No. 10.
Hawai'i Hilo narrowly fell short, 2-1, in a top-10 showdown to then-ranked No. 8 Concordia University Irvine on Oct. 30 at the Vulcan Soccer Field.
CUI moved up to No. 5 in the national poll while also repeating atop the West Regional Rankings.
Hawai'i Hilo started the season at No. 14 and reached the program's highest ranking for two weeks at No. 5.
