Kierstyn Yamamoto graduated from Keaau in 2019, went to Cal Baptist to play soccer but never logged a minute at the Division I school that used to dominate UH-Hilo and everyone else in the PacWest.
The sophomore defender is back home after spending the PacWest’s coronavirus-shortened spring season with the Vulcans, who finished with four ties against Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific.
UHH plays its season opener against Westminster College (Utah) on Thursday at the Waipahu Peninsula Soccer Park on Oahu. Then the Vulcans take off for a two-game California road trip against Humboldt State on Sept. 5 and against San Francisco State on Sept. 7.
In 2019, the Griffins finished 11-4-4 and lost to the University of Colorado at Colorado Spring 1-0 in the RMAC semifinals. This season, UCCS was picked No. 2 in the preseason poll while Westminister was No. 4 in the 13-team league. UHH was picked No. 5 in the PacWest poll. Two-time defending league champion Point Loma was picked to repeat. UHH junior defender Jodi Lillie landed on the all-league preseason team.
“We’re going to follow all state and federal safety protocol guidelines when we travel and definitely take extra precaution,” UHH coach Gene Okamura said. “The players will have their own bubble. They won’t leave the hotel. We’ll pick up all their meals and bring them back.
“We traveled in the spring so we know what to expect. But we’ll be cautious whether we’re in the van or at the airport. We’ll travel to games with our masks on the whole time. Basically, there’s little to no interaction with other people.”
Their first home game is Sept. 29 against Azusa Pacific, which didn’t play during the three-division PacWest pod season. The Cougars finished 5-5-1 in 2019; UHH was 5-4-2.
Yamamoto’s journey to Riverside, Calif., to play for the Lancers wasn’t exactly a pleasant one. She stayed for a year and a half and had an ACL injury during the spring season when the pandemic went crazy. The spring and fall seasons were canceled, and she returned back home, where there are a lot of old BIIF pals she played against, including sisters Nanea and Nalani Wall (Konawaena), Jacelyn Cambra (Waiakea), Jordyn Pacheco (Hilo), Saydee Bacdad (Hilo).
Yamamoto is majoring in biology and thinking of going into physical therapy or medical school. So she is well aware of the medical news of COVID-19 and the Delta variant, its dangerous offspring.
“It’s nerve-racking with the COVID numbers definitely rising,” Yamamoto said about the UHH road trips. “If one person catches it, it would ruin the whole trip. But when we had games on Oahu during the spring, we stayed in the hotel and did all that safety protocol stuff.
“It’s awesome to see the BIIF girls. I’ve played in club against Saydee, Jordyn and Jacelyn. It’s good to connect with the Wall sisters. We were on opposite sides of the island in high school, and now we’re on the same team. It’s pretty cool.”
Yamamoto and Nanea Wall are connected in more ways than one. They are both 2019 Roy Fujimoto scholarship recipients, honored for their work on the field, classroom, and in the community.
They along with the rest of the Vulcans are all in the same boat. It’s a fierce battle for not just playing time, but also to make the 20-player travel roster.
Okamura also has to select travel players not only with good team chemistry but ones who are durable because of substitution rules. In the 45-minute first half, once a starter is pulled, the player can’t go back in. In the second half, a pulled player can make one reentry.
The sixth-year coach wants his players to keep practicing hard so he won’t announce starters or the travel squad until the last minute. So returning starters have the same status as newcomers.
Still, what BIIF soccer fans, especially those who are Vikings, want to know is will 2019 Hilo graduate Saydee Bacdad, a Division I transfer from Utah Valley, start?
“Right now, everything is so up in the air,” said Okamura, doing his best to not give out any subtle clues. “The depth on the team is really good (Taylor Hornburg and Viviana Poli are the other goalies). I’ve been doing this for six years as head coach and nine total. It’s always pretty easy to pick a travel group. This year is not the case. It’ll be a hard task to pick the 20 on the road trip.”
The thing is all the goalies are juniors, so the competitive level is really high. No matter what, two players will be disappointed.
The next question BIIF fans and diehard Vikings want to know is will Pacheco, who led the league in scoring her junior and senior seasons, start?
After all, the Vulcans scored only five goals in their four ties. A goal here or there, and it’s a different season, not just this past spring but previous years as well.
Lillie led the offense with two goals. That’s usually not a good sign when a defender leads in scoring. Nanea Wall, who led the Vuls with five goals in 17 games in 2019, and Daelenn Tokunaga, a UH-Manoa transfer, had one goal apiece during the shortened spring.
Then there’s Division I Colorado transfer Filippa Graneld, who played on Sweden’s youth national teams, the farm system for the Olympics, and Gold Cup squads.
“No one has solidified themselves as a starting player,” Okamura said. “We have so much depth that we can change at every single match. Filippa is a very good player. She will definitely help the program.
“Jordyn has been getting reps at midfield. We’ve been toggling her there and on top. Nanea was our leading point scorer in 2019. It’s ultra-competitive. We need to find where the players will help the team be successful.”
True to his close to the vest nature, Okamura couldn’t divulge whether Yamamoto would make the travel roster, but he did note her strong attributes.
“She’s a tough, physical player who works extremely hard,” he said. “She’s very coachable. You tell her to do something, and she’ll do it exactly how you asked her. She’s a very good teammate, very selfless. I can’t say enough good things about her.”
Well, that’s the thing about this year’s ultra-competitive deep group, Okamura doesn’t mind pointing out a player’s skill set but ask him if she’s starting or making the travel roster, and that’s another story.