HILO, Hawai'i – Hawai'i Hilo Women's Soccer inched closer toward securing one of four postseason tournament berths with a 1-0 victory over Chaminade on Thursday afternoon in Pacific West Conference play at the Vulcan Soccer Field.
Delaney Barbee connected with Elise Flores to put through the lone score of the game in the 18th minute. Flores bookended the home slate of scoring with knocking in the first score of the year in the season opener against Chico State and now in the final home match.
Lydia Keller recorded six saves for her seventh shutout of the season, which ranks No. 3 for single-season shutouts in the program record books and No. 5 for total in a career. Keller's total of 59 saves ranks No. 8 for a single season.
With just one more date of action, the postseason picture is still in a tight race for the final three spots for the PacWest Championships set for next week in San Diego, California. Azusa Pacific (7-2-0) has already claimed the regular-season title with Concordia (5-2-3), Hawai'i Hilo (5-1-3), Dominican (4-1-4), Point Loma (4-1-4), Westmont (5-4-0) and Fresno Pacific (3-2-4) all still in contention.
A win or tie by the Vulcans on Saturday against HPU would clinch a postseason berth. A win over HPU plus an Azusa Pacific loss (to winless Jessup) would earn the Vulcans a share of the conference regular season title. However, a loss to the Sharks would bring on a myriad of scenarios depending on results around the league. The good news is that those scenarios should become clearer by the time the Vulcans and Sharks kick off on Saturday — fourth-place Dominican and sixth-place Westmont will play earlier in the day, along with fourth-place Point Loma and seventh-place Fresno Pacific.
Thursday's home finale was also Senior Day, celebrating 14 members of this year's senior class: Alia Bournay, Rya Cabral, Haley Clark, Valeria Da Silva, Diana Garcia, Melanie Guerrero, Grace Ingalls, Briana Kubli, Courtney Linn, Makenna Maloy, Myah Patterson, Jordan Schaden, Nikkie Scott, Annette Sotelo
OTHER NOTES
- Eliminated from PacWest postseason play: Vanguard (3-4-2), Menlo (1-3-5), Chaminade (1-5-4), HPU (1-5-3), Biola (0-4-6), Jessup (0-5-4)
- Hawai'i Hilo: 7-2-6 Overall (5-1-3 PacWest)
- Chaminade: 1-5-8 Overall (1-5-4 PacWest)
- The Vulcans also secured the maximum three points for women's soccer competition under the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge, a points-based competition between the three Hawai'i Division-II schools in head-to-head matchups or common team competition events.
UP NEXT
- Saturday, Nov. 8 (1:30 PM) vs HPU (Waipahu, Hawai'i)
PACWEST CHAMPIONSHIPS
The four-team PacWest Conference Championships postseason tournament will be hosted by Point Loma in San Diego, California (Nov. 13-15). Hawai'i Hilo was voted No. 3 in the PacWest Preseason Coaches Poll.
