Box Score WAIPIO, HI (October 11, 2014) – The Hawai'i Pacific Men's Soccer Team (7-4-1, 5-1) defeated California Baptist University (3-7-1, 2-3) 2-1 on Saturday night at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
Both teams started active in an entertaining soccer match. In the 12th minute, Daniel Haere fired the first shot for the Sharks on the Lancers' goal but the ball went wide. Following was a hard battle in the midfield with a slight advantage in possession for HPU. Despite HPU making the plays, the Lancers also had their chances but none of their shots found its way on goal.
In the 30th minute,
Christopher Galang fired a good shot but the ball was saved by the CBU keeper. Although creating chances, neither team managed to score a goal in the remaining minutes of the first period.
After the changeover,
Jackson Groves, who already scored twice in HPU's last game, shot a good header on the goal, giving the CBU keeper a glimpse of what was about to follow (53').
Fifty-seven minutes into the game, Groves sprinted into the box and grabbed the lead for the Sharks with a good volley shot after a corner kick from
Erik Kemsies.
Awoken by the goal against, the Lancers became more aggressive and tried everything to tie the game again. In the 63rd minute, HPU keeper
Jesse Kunitomo prevented the tie with a world class save after a powerful shot to the left corner.
However, the Lancers were able to temporarily tie the game in the 64th minute with a beautiful free kick straight in the upper right corner from 20 yards out.
After the goal, the Sharks pushed hard to win the game in regular time. It was Groves, again, who brought victory to the Sharks after finishing a pass from Kemsies inside the six-yard box (70').
The Lancers tried hard to tie the game again but the Sharks kept the spaces tight and carried away the win.
Despite the win, the statistics presented an advantage in shots (13-8) and shots on goal (5-4) for CBU. Kunitomo finished with four saves. Groves led the Sharks' stats with three shots.
The Sharks will play one more game on Friday, October 17, against BYU Hawai'i at 12:30pm at Atherton Field before they travel to the mainland.
