SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The Dominican University of California men's soccer team won its second game in a row with a 1-0 victory over visiting UH Hilo on Senior Day.

Emotions ran high with a pregame ceremony that honored Dominican's seven seniors – Drake Albee, Erik Anderson, Vini Enriquez, Dale Howard, Kolby Mitnick, Manny Sandoval-Gutierrez, and Fabian Valdez-Mandoza. That number would have been eight had Cory Vanderpool not redshirted the 2013 season. Vanderpool, who sustained a season-ending injury earlier this season, took the field to start with his classmates one final time. UH Hilo displayed sportsmanship by kicking the ball out. That allowed Vanderpool to exchange hugs with his teammates before departing, including Howard. The pair have played soccer together since the age of fives years old.

Howard wasted no time attacking and fired a shot off in the second minute. The Penguins pressed hard in the first half and outshot the Vulcans 6-1 in the first half. That aggressiveness paid off the in the 41st minute. Lee LeVerrier had a breakaway on the left side and a 1-v-1 opportunity against Vulcans goalkeeper Tyler Hoffman. Hoffman came off his line and confronted LeVerrier in the box, making hard contact to prevent the goal-scoring opportunity. Hoffman was issued a red card for his tactic, which left the Vulcans, who only brought one true goalkeeper on the trip, scrambling. Midfielder Ikaika Fuerte entered the game at goalkeeper and was unable to stop the penalty kick by Vini Enriquez.

The Penguins played a bit defensively in the second half, which allowed UH Hilo to take six shots. However, the back line only allowed two of those on frame. Anderson played through injury to make three saves and notch the win and the shutout to lower his career goals against average to 1.27.

"We've talked about 'family time' a lot this season. We've fought through close losses and numerous injuries and today was a fitting way to honor our seniors today," said Head Coach Phil Billeci-Gard. "The way the season started, we could have given up a long time ago. It's a testament to this team and to our senior leadership that they're still grinding and finding a way to win."

The Penguins will finish the 2014 campaign with three road matches beginning Thursday, Oct. 30 at Dixie State. From there, Dominican heads to Azusa Pacific on Nov. 1, then wraps things up on Nov. 8 versus Holy Names in Oakland.