The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo men’s soccer team came from behind to defeat Hawaiʻi Pacific University (HPU), 3-2, on October 9 in Pacific West Conference play. After HPU got in two penalty kicks, the Vulcans scored twice in a span of five minutes late in the game to claim the win.
The Vulcans got on the scoreboard early with Aidan Santos finding a lane down the right side of the field and crossing the ball in toward Tom Vorkastner, who tapped it over to Gabriel Gallardo for the 19th-minute goal.
Later in the half, Koki Hamada was called on a foul trying to defend inside the Vulcans’ own penalty area, setting up a penalty-kick score for HPU to tie the game.
After intermission, the Vulcans were called on another foul, this time on Brady O’Neill, granting HPU another penalty kick and another conversion.
Then, UH Hilo flipped the score in the span of five minutes starting at the 61st-minute mark.
First, after Santos was fouled inside HPU’s penalty area, Alexander Hernandez-Herbach took the penalty kick and was defended against but he quickly knocked the rebounded ball into the open net for the equalizer.
A few minutes later, Santos sent a longball down from midfield causing the HPU goalkeeper to come up field to defend against Hernandez-Herbach. After the ball was headed out, Vorkastner gathered the deflection and hit the empty net from 30 yards out for the game-winning score.
With this game, UH Hilo improved to 3-4-3 overall and 2-1-1 PacWest Conference play.
The Vulcans will return home for a final two-game home stand against Fresno Pacific University on October 15 and Holy Names University on October 18.
For more, visit hiloathletics.com.
