Gene Okamura likes to talk about soccer IQ as if it’s a dangerous weapon, and for his UH-Hilo women’s soccer team it does help in the scoring and goal prevention departments.
In a conservative defensive battle, the Vulcans beat Chaminade 2-0 in a non-conference game on Saturday at Paiea Stadium, scoring twice on set pieces and winning their second straight.
UHH senior Tiera Arakawa scored and had an assist for three points and pushed her career total to 23 points, eighth on the school’s all-time list.
The senior from Maui joked that she didn’t know a goal was two points and an assist worth one point. Whatever the case, the Vulcans won 2-0, not 3-0, and Arakawa was pleasantly surprised about her career climb.
“I didn’t expect that. It’s a surprise,” she said. “It’s a nice feeling. Hopefully, it goes up.”
Her assist came about five minutes before halftime. She took a corner kick, and the ball sailed right to Leighana Weaver, who jumped and put a header in.
Early in the second half, Carlie Reader drilled a free kick from 20 yards out, the ball bounced around the box, and there were four defenders around Arakawa but no one close.
“Gene tells us to not chase the ball and stay in your space and the ball will come,” Arakawa said.
That’s exactly what happened. The ball found her, and she calmly knocked it in. Had she bolted off her spot, her shot would have likely been challenged and blocked.
The Silverswords, who have never had a winning season, had two defensive lapses on set pieces, and it cost them. The Vuls played tough, tight and solid help-side defense all game long. When someone leaked off the line to defend an attack, a UHH teammate covered to close any gaps.
UHH outshot Chaminade 11-4. Neither team attempted to overload with numbers on offense, but both connected often on short and medium passes. The Vulcans worked give-and-gos down the flanks, and the Silverswords went right down the mile.
Besides Arakawa, Okamura’s other high IQ player is freshman defender Jodi Lillie, a recruiting gem, who was a first team all-state selection out of Mililani. She strengthens a backline of Lucy Maino, Jada Macairan, and Maleni Avalos.
In the first half, Chaminade had a 2-on-1 attack with Lillie stuck with a decision. She could challenge the dribbler heading down the middle or hedge against the left forward. Instead, she positioned her body to face the sideline and retreated.
With UHH help on the way, a pass was sent down the sideline, but Lillie was ready to run a corner route and contest the ball. The pass was errant, and a threat was averted.
The Vuls get a good measure of themselves with their next road trip. They play at Saint Martin’s on Tuesday, then PacWest games against Academy of Art (eighth in the PacWest) and Holy Names (11th) on Saturday.
Okamura believes the best is yet to come for UHH, third in the standings.
“I think our depth is definitely better, our overall quality and our soccer ability, and our soccer IQ is higher,” he said. “We haven’t played a full 90-minute game. We’ve played at 85 or 90 percent, but we’re working to get better every day.”
Men
Chaminade 1, UHH 0: The Vulcans did their best job defending shots but one sneaked through as Jamin Fonseca scored 43 seconds into overtime in the non-conference match.
The Silverswords outshot UHH 9-8, a significantly lower number than the 22-6 per game average the Vuls entered the game with.
UHH (1-6) has lost six in a row while the Silverswords (2-2) have won two straight, including a 4-2 PacWest win over the Vulcans last week.