Feeling teal?
Prepared to go pink?
Former UH-Hilo goalkeeper Jenna Hufford promises people will be glad they did.
The Vulcans will retire the No. 22 jersey of the late Lindsey Poulsen before their home opener at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Paiea Stadium in Keaau against Azusa Pacific. Fans wearing either of those two colors associated with ovarian cancer awareness will get free admission to a college soccer twin bill that doubles as a celebration of life.
What a L.I.F.E Poulsen lived, Hufford said.
“I just really want to push the memo that no one fights alone,” Hufford said. “That’s what Lindsey lived by.
“She loved coming to UH-Hilo because you can prove yourself. You can start (low) and finish (high).”
Hufford’s freshman year of 2013 was Poulsen’s senior campaign, and the Vuls enjoyed their high-water mark with a 10-4-2 finish.
“She lived by creating your own vibe everyday,” Hufford said.
The program has secured just one winning season since, but senior Tiera Arakawa has noticed a better vibe with the present-day group as well, though it hasn’t always translated to the scoreboard for UH-Hilo (1-1-2, 0-0-1 PacWest).
The good news: The Vuls have allowed two goals.
The not-so-good: The Vuls have scored two.
“I think we just have to finish opportunities,” said Arakawa, a Maui native who now considers Hilo her home. “We’ve created so many opportunities in the front half, we just haven’t been able to finish.
“I don’t know if it’s pressure or what.”
UH-Hilo is coming off a 0-0 tie at Chaminade on Saturday in its PacWest opener, and the teams will play a nonconference match Saturday as the Vuls close a quick two-match homestand before heading back out on the road.
Arakawa has tallied a goal and an assist – fellow midfielder Carlie Reader, a senior, has the other goal – and she has thes distinction of being coach Gene Okamura’s first recruit. A few years later, he considers Arakawa a 5-foot package of no-nonsense leadership and impact.
“I’m always focused and determined,” she said. ‘I’m not going to fool around, I’m just going to get the job done.”
Azusa Pacific (1-4-1, 1-0-1) is closing its Hawaii trip after earning a win at Chaminade and a tie at Hawaii Pacific, and the Cougars will run into a hot goalkeeper.
On Monday, UHH’s Bailey Cahill was been named the Pacific West Conference defender of the week after consecutive shutouts. The junior transfer is one of the many first-year players who have impressed Arakawa, a four-year starter.
“I was just talking to (coach) Gene (Okamura) yesterday,”Arakawa said. “This team right now, there have always been so many personalities every year, but it’s a different feeling. All the girls (Gene) brought in, it’s much more technical, just more skill and soccer IQ.”
No. 22 forever
Hufford, who exhausted her eligibility last season, flew into town and attended a team reception Monday night after attending a celebration honoring Poulsen’s life in Santa Cruz, Calif.
None of the current Vuls played with Poulsen, who died in June at the age of 26 after a long battling with ovarian cancer, but Hufford is happy to tell them what they missed out on.
“She was our captain, and my favorite thing about her was no matter what, whoever was having a bad day, she was right by your side encouraging you,” she said. “It wasn’t me, it was team. So if one person wasn’t OK, the whole team wasn’t OK. We weren’t going to be OK, until we rose her up.”
Hufford lives on Maui now and works at a resort.
As a player she wore No. 1, but she said her “favorite thing in the whole world” was a senior game and a chance to “wear No. 22 for Lindsey.”
She wore her cherished No. 22 pink jersey Monday, and she said Poulsen’s passing has her yearning to play again.
“I have to play for her,” Hufford said. “She created her own happiness. She could create sunshine and that’s why her light still shines so bright. She’ll be with us for the rest of our lives.”
Men try to rebound
This is not the start anybody wanted, but men’s coach Paul Regrutto called his 1-4 team a work-in-progress heading into its 4:30 p.m. match against Azusa.
“We’re working through some things,” he said, “but I don’t feel anyone has stagnated and that anyone thinks everything thing is OK.
“You never want to accept losing, and I don’t think we have.”
UH-Hilo won only two games last season, so a win at nationally ranked Western Washington in Regrutto’s debut to open the season was a huge step in the right direction.
However, the Vuls are riding a four-match losing streak, allowing at least four goals in each defeat.
Azusa (5-1-1, 2-0) is in first place in the PacWest and is looking for a Hawaii sweep after wins against Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific.
“We definitely have our best soccer to come,” Regrutto said. “I don’t think we’re going to look back on winning that first game of the year as the special moment. All of the losses, they’ll have taught us something.”