UH-Hilo’s Arakawa scores PacWest Player of the Week honors

The stellar performance last week of a University of Hawai‘i at Hilo women’s soccer player has garnered her Pacific West Conference accolades.

Vulcan sophomore forward/midfielder Teani Arakawa of Makawao, Maui, accounted for nearly half of UH-Hilo’s goals last week with three scores to earn her the title of PacWest Player of the Week.

In a 4-0 win Oct. 18 against Oakland, Calif.-based Holy Names University, Arakawa got the Vulcans on the scoreboard in the 42nd minute followed by netting a pair of goals last Saturday in a 3-0 victory against La Mirada, Calif.-based Biola University. She also assisted on the third goal against the Hawks, totaling seven points for the entire week.

“Staying on my mark, making runs, flanking the center back — pretty much just trying to work together, making plays and scoring,” Arakawa said about her focus heading into games last week.

The sophomore ranks fourth on the team in points and is tied with two other Vulcans for second-most goals on the season.

Last week broke a seven-game span of having gone without a goal or an assist since last finding the back of the net against Denver-based Regis University in mid-September.

“I was pretty bummed on not scoring, but even if I didn’t, I was so happy for everybody else that was scoring,” Arakawa said. “I guess my time is finally happening of me scoring again, so I’m pretty happy about that.”

The squad’s performance last week also garnered it PacWest Team of the Week honors. Outscoring Holy Names and Biola last week by a total tally of 7-0, the No. 9 nationally-ranked Vulcans improved to 11-0-2 on the season and to 6-0-1 in the PacWest. 

The victory against Biola also gave head coach Gene Okamura his 50th career win.

The Vulcans have outscored their opponents 35-4 so far this season.