HILO, Hawai'i – Hawai'i Hilo Men's Soccer continues on after downing Chaminade, 5-0, in the regular-season finale Saturday afternoon at the Vulcan Soccer Field to clinch the fourth and final spot in next week's inaugural Pacific West Conference Championships postseason tournament in Irvine, California.
Mirai Sato continued his late-season scoring surge, netting a pair of goals (27', 28') to make it five scores in the last three games. Colby Lee got the Vulcans on the scoreboard in the 15th minute, bringing his career points total to 22 to move to No. 5 in the Vulcans program record books.
"Proud of the group on how they responded during a difficult period of the season," Hawai'i Hilo second-year head coach Diego Marroquin said. "We've ended the last five matches undefeated and those were all important matches."
Christian Souza made his 10th start of the season in goal, recording career shutout No. 10 to become the program's new all-time career leader, surpassing Ivan Mercado (08-09). This was his fourth shutout of 2024 — tied with Tyler Hoffman in 2014 for fourth most in a single season.
Hawai'i Hilo finished the regular season at an 11-5-1 overall record, 6-4-1 PacWest. Chaminade ends at 1-10-3 overall (1-7-3 PacWest).
PACWEST CHAMPIONSHIPS
With the victory, the Vulcans finished the conference season with 19 points to land at No. 5 in the standings. Newcomers Menlo (8-1-2) and Vanguard (6-3-2) finished ahead in the final printout, but both — along with Jessup (4-5-2) — are ineligible for postseason play in Year 2 of a three-year NAIA-NCAA transition period.
The other teams qualified for the inaugural PacWest Tournament are Point Loma (9-1-1), Westmont (7-3-1) and Fresno Pacific (6-5-0). Hawai'i Hilo got extra help on the final day as FPU was defeated by Biola (5-5-1) in the final minutes to finish as the No. 4 seed with 18 points — setting up a semifinal meeting with top seed PLNU. The Vulcans are the third seed facing second-seeded Westmont.
"It's exciting. It's a great opportunity. It's one of the things we were aspiring for and to now accomplish that and be here, it's something special and we don't take it for granted," Marroquin said. "I'm excited for this group to show their collective identity and at the end of the week, we'll be really proud of them."
OTHER NOTES
- Marroquin brought his two-season Vulcans head coaching record to 21-11-1, moving into a three-way tie for program wins with Cam Camarena (08-09) and Paul Regrutto (06, 18-21).
- Aidan Santos added a goal (42') and an assist (72' K. Taira) ) for three points on the afternoon. The junior moved to No. 3 in the Vulcans record books with 10 career assists and also moved to a three-way tie at No. 9 with 18 career points.
- Senior goalkeeper Anree Bogart got his first action since the 2022 season, logging 20 minutes as a field player.
SENIORS (9) – 1 Season: Xavi Jul; 2 Seasons: Takato Awai, Colby Lee, Brian Trujillo; 3 Seasons: Anree Bogart, Andrew Holley; 4 Seasons: Gabriel Gallardo; 5 Seasons: Christian Souza, Tom Vorkastner
"It's historical. What they've done is beyond what any other team has done before," Vulcans Men's Soccer coach Terry Yamane said. "It shows what kind of high character they have to fight through the different adversities to come out on top. They're culture champions — guys who work hard, love the game and always do the work on the field and off the field as well."
"The main word that comes to mind is 'consistency,'" Marroquin said. "When you have a group that's consistent with their habits and what they do on a daily basis, you get consistent results and this group with two years and 21 wins, I don't think that's an accident. It's difficult to do at this level and that's credit to Paul (Regrutto), Garrett (Estrin) and Terry — the guys who recruited these guys."
UP NEXT: PacWest Championships – Thursday, Nov. 14 (11:30 AM / 1:30 PM PT) vs Westmont (Irvine, California / Orange County Great Park Field 18)
CHAMINADE UNIVERSITY OF HONOLULU SILVERSWORDS
- NCAA Division II - Pacific West Conference
- Honolulu, Hawai'i (O'ahu)
- Head Coach: Former Vulcans coach and player Joshua Woodard (Third Season)
- Incoming Record: 1-9-3 (1-6-3 PacWest)
- 2023 Season: 0-12-3 Record (0-8-2 PacWest)
