The tremendous run of the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo women’s soccer team came to an end Saturday afternoon with a 2-1 overtime loss to Concordia University Irvine in the second round of NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship West Region play at the Vulcan Soccer Field in Hilo.
Photo courtesy of the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.
Following a free-kick restart just less than six minutes into the first of two 10-minute overtime periods, CUI’s Layla Comeaux intercepted a Vulcans pass and flipped the script with a downfield launch to Riley Walkington, who twisted and turned between two defenders to create the space for a long-range strike from 20 yards out to find the back of the net and give CUI the advantage.
The score would remain the same the rest of the way.
“The goal was to get further in the NCAA tournament and we did it, and we won the conference outright this year,” said Vulcans head coach Gene Okamura. “We just said how proud we were of them and thanking them for what they have done for our program.”
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The Golden Eagles out shot the Vulcans by a 14-9 margin (7-5 shots on goal) while limiting UH-Hilo to zero corner kicks. CUI advances to next week’s NCAA West Region title game against Western Washington.
Daelenn Tokunaga netted the Vulcans’ lone goal in the 28th minute. Grace VerHage and Teani Arakawa quickly worked to get the ball downfield for Tokunaga, the 2021 Pacific West Conference Player of the Year, to strike the left-footed score past the goalkeeper.
Jadenn Carrillo hit the equalizing score for CUI in the 56th minute from about 22 yards out on a left-footer over the top through three defenders.
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