With UH-Hilo’s women’s soccer team coming off of a stoppage because of COVID-19 protocols, the Vulcans were going to be missing starters.
Coach Gene Okamura preferred to stay away from talking about who wouldn’t be taking the pitch during Thursday’s pivotal home match against Hawaii Pacific, but he did list a core group of players who would be present.
His list included stalwarts Daelenn Tokunaga, Filippa Graneld and Christina Kanellou, as well as “Syssa.”
“‘Syssa?” Okamura was asked. “Who is that?”
That would be Alyssa Padron, and the sophomore played as big a role as any as the Vulcans kept their historic season on track. Mired in a second half tie, Padron sparked a second-half onslaught with two goals in a 5-1 victory that put UHH on the cusp of its first NCAA Division II postseason berth.
With 35 minutes remaining and knowing a draw would be disastrous to their postseason hopes, it’s as if someone flipped a switch for the Vuls, who scored three goals in a three-minute span.
“I think once they scored, we really had to get it back,” Padron said. “It wasn’t panic. It was about confidence. We got this.”
Winners of eight in a row, UHH (11-3, 8-1 Pacific West Conference) needs a win in its regular season finale Saturday at home against Chaminade to clinch the PacWest’s automatic berth at regionals.
“We just have to give everything we’ve got,” said Kayla Kunihisa, who finished with a goal and an assist. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing.”
Looking for a sign that this could be the Vulcans’ year? The COVID-19 setback meant the Vuls took the field without three starters, but up stepped Kunihisa.
The junior made her first start of the season and promptly delivered the first goal of a career that’s spanned 31 matches, giving UHH the lead in the first half when she headed in a ball from Padron.
“It was surreal,” the junior said. “When the ball was coming to me I said, ‘This is my time.’ I just headed and and I was like, ‘Did that just go in?’”
It did, but the Sharks (5-10-1, 4-5-1) grabbed the equalizer and seemingly the momentum early in the second half when Marcella Chan scored, and Okamura pressed his team to maintain its energy.
“Having not played a match (since Oct. 27) and only (practicing) three times before today, I think we came out flat,” Okamura said. “When we got scored on, it woke us up.”
It was lightning in a bottle.
Tokunaga chased down a ball on the right side and centered it for Graneld, who notched her fifth goal of the year from near the top of the box, opening up the floodgates. Padron’s goals, her second and third of the season, came 50 seconds apart, with assists going to Graneld and Kunihisa.
“I think everyone really wants it,” Padron said. “It’s just a grind, we’re going to grind it out.”
The only question remaining at that point was if Tokunaga would add to her PacWest-leading goal total?
Of course.
Her 13th of the season came in the final minutes, putting her one away from tying the school record.
Earlier this season, the Vuls beat Chaminade (7-6, 5-4) 3-0 on Oahu. If they can do it again at noon Saturday, they’ll share the PacWest title with Point Loma (13-1-1, 9-1), and UHH’s dramatic overtime win against the Sea Lions on Oct. 27 would give it the tiebreaker for the automatic qualifying spot.
“I feel like people are underestimating us all year, so we just show up and give it all we have,” Kunihisa said.
In the men’s match, UHH picked up perhaps it’s best win of the season in a 3-0 win against the Sharks (8-6-2, 6-2-2), who saw a five-match winning streak end.
“It was a good win,” coach Paul Regrutto said. “I think we deserved to win like this multiple times this year though. Part of the frustration for us is that we’ve played well so many times but haven’t gotten the result. I honestly feel that our record doesn’t represent the team that we are.”
In the 13th minute, Devan Yoshimura took a pass from Waturo Muto and fired it into the lower right corner of the goal. Before the end of the half, Tommy Seaver picked up a loose ball after a Tom Vorkastner shot banked off a HPU defender and fired it into the net.
Midway through the second half, Julian Garcia fought off two defenders on his hip to flip a shot into the upper right hand corner of the net to make it 3-0.
Michael Harre nailed down his first shutout of the year, finishing with six saves.
“We were able to play a bunch of guys that have worked very hard this year,” Regrutto said. “Those guys have supported the team all year long, even when they weren’t playing. It was awesome to get those guys on the field and have everybody cheering for them. Those were three great goals that we deserved on so many different levels.”