(photos courtesy of Hawai`i Hilo and Western Washington sports information offices)

In two tight-as-can be soccer matches in opposite corners of the western United States, Concordia upset Hawai`i Hilo 2-1 in overtime on the Big Island and Western Washington ended Point Loma's season with a 1-0 win in Bellingham in a pair of NCAA West Region women's soccer semifinals. 

The Golden Eagles now move on to take on WWU in Washington next Thursday or Friday at a date and time to be determined. 

HILO, Hawai`i—In front of the largest crowd to ever watch a soccer match at the University of Hawai`i Hilo, visiting Concordia played the spoiler role with a 2-1 overtime victory over the host Vulcans on Saturday afternoon in NCAA West Region semifinal women’s soccer action.

Riley Walkington knocked home what turned out to be the game winner six minutes into the first overtime period to deflate at crowd of 631 at brand new Vulcan Field. It was the first loss on this field for No. 1 seed Hawai`i Hilo, and the first loss of the season for that matter. The conference champion Vulcans finished the year at 13-1-3.

No. 5 seed Concordia now advances to Bellingham, Wash. with a 14-4-2 record, to play their first regional final.

Walkington’s score stunned the crowd and the Vulcan defense. At 95:48, at the top of the box on the left side, she spun away from her defender with a 360 degree move and then fired a shot over the defense and goalkeeper Viviana Poli into the upper righthand portion of the goal.

That made the score 2-1, and despite three shots by the Vulcans in the second overtime, none of them dangerous, the Golden Eagles held on for the upset victory.

Earlier, just after halftime, Concordia tied the match on a brilliant play by Jadenn Carrillo. The senior veteran took a pass from Olivia Ocampo, stutter dribbled and then sent a rope over the top of leaping Poli to make the score 1-1.

To begin the game the Vulcans put the offensive pressure on early, as has been their M.O. all season long. They had two shots in the first five minutes, but the Golden Eagle defense clamped down and didn’t allow a score. Halfway through the first half, the shots were even at two each, with one shot on goal on each side.

But in the 28^th minute, the Vulcans broke through. Teani Arakawa had the ball just on the Vulcans side of midfield, on the right side. She sent a perfect pass to the other side of the field to a streaking Daelenn Tokunaga, who beat her defender and continued dribbling down the left side.

When Concordia keeper Riley Urquiza came out of the box, Tokunaga, the 2021 PacWest Player of the Year, flicked a shot with her left foot into the bottom right hand corner of the net to put UH Hilo on the board.

UH Hilo had one more excellent opportunity with about 27 minutes remaining when Arakawa dribbled through the Concordia defense and was one-on-one with the keeper. But Urquiza made the block to keep her team in front.

As it would turn out, that was the highlight for the Vulcans after the break. Concordia controlled most of the play the rest of the day and finished with a advantage of 14 shots (seven on goal) and two corner kicks, compared to UH Hilo nine, five of them on goal. The Vulcans didn’t have a corner kick in the match.
 
BELLINGHAM, Wash.—Western Washington’s Estera Levinte broke open a scoreless tie moments into the second half and that goal held up in a tightly contested 1-0 victory for the Vikings over Point Loma on Saturday afternoon at Harrington Field.

Point Loma’s season comes to a close for the second straight year to the same team at the same place, in the NCAA West Region semifinals. Point Loma wraps up at 13-3-4. Western Washington advances to the regional finals at 15-2-4. The Vikings, by virtue of UH Hilo’s loss, will host Concordia next week at a day and time to be determined.

Levinte’s score came just after the second half began in the 48^th minute. The scoring play developed when Jayden Nguyen lofted a pass into the box that Claire Potter headed towards Point Loma keeper Julia Pinnell. That shot was blocked but came right back to a sliding Levinte, who while colliding with Pinnell, was able to push the ball into the net.

There were chances for both teams after that, in a very even sort of way. WWU finished with 11 shots, six on goal, as did Point Loma. The Sea Lions had five corner kicks to the Viking’s four. Pinnell finished with five saves and Viking stopper Claire Henniger had four.

WWU’s goal broke up a string of over 400 scoreless minutes by the Sea Lion defense. Western Washington will now head to its seventh consecutive West Region final.