WAIPAHU, Hawai'i –
Gia Aldama scored twice and
Ayla Moore tied Dominican's NCAA Division II-era single-game record with three assists as the Penguins snapped a five-match losing streak with a 4-3 victory over Hawai'i Pacific on Friday evening at Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
Dominican improved to 7-8-1 overall and 2-5 in conference play, while Hawai'i Pacific fell to 0-13-2 and 0-6-1 in the PacWest. The Penguins finished with a 15-12 advantage in shots, placed 10 attempts on goal and earned seven corner kicks to the Sharks' two.
Dominican broke through in the 26th minute following a well-worked attack down the right side. Moore carried the ball forward and slipped a through ball toward the box for Aldama. A Hawai'i Pacific defender stepped up to intercept the pass but misread the ball, giving Aldama room to run into the box. The junior cut back toward the middle and unleashed a shot for her first career goal and a 1-0 Dominican lead at 25:31. Less than seven minutes later,
Jessica Ortega scored her first career goal with Moore again providing the assist to make it 2-0. Hawai'i Pacific answered before halftime when Addison Vaught scored at 34:58, sending Dominican into the break with a 2-1 lead.
Dominican restored its two-goal cushion in the 63rd minute after
Janae Schwan scored her fifth goal of the season. The goal was the ninth of Schwan's Dominican career, moving her into a tie with Mary Wheeler for ninth on the program's all-time list. The Sharks refused to go away. Lavinia Vaipulu scored at 68:18 to cut the Dominican lead to 3-2, but the Penguins needed just over two minutes to respond.
Aldama struck again at 70:25, completing the first brace of her Dominican career and restoring a 4-2 advantage. Moore collected her third assist of the match on the goal, tying Lauren Gollnick's Dominican NCAA Division II-era single-game record set against Simpson in September 2012. Moore became the first Penguin to record three assists in a match against an NCAA Division II opponent.
Hawai'i Pacific made one final push when Vaipulu scored her second goal in the 85th minute to draw the Sharks within 4-3. Dominican prevented another shot until the final seconds, when
Michelle Salas Viniegra stopped Vaipulu at 89:51 to preserve the victory. Salas Viniegra finished with three saves, increasing her career total to 82 while remaining fifth on Dominican's all-time list. She also added another 90 minutes to her career total after entering the match third in program history in goalkeeper minutes.
Dominican finishes its Hawai'i road trip Monday at Hawai'i Hilo with kickoff set for 12:30 p.m.HST.
