WAIPAHU, Hawai'i – The Hawai'i Pacific University women dropped a heartbreaker to open the season Saturday afternoon, falling to Antelope Valley 2-1 in double overtime at the Waipio Soccer Stadium.
 
The Sharks (0-1) dominated play, but the Pioneers (1-3) scored with 2:37 to go in the second overtime to claim the victory when UAV's Giselle Cruz-Martinez recovered an errant HPU pass for a breakaway left corner goal.
 
The Sharks outshot the Pioneers 18-4 in the second half and overtimes, but could only manage one goal.
 
The teams played nearly even in the first 45 minutes, with UAV getting on the board in the 36th minute when Nayeli Moreno headed in a rebound off the crossbar to put the Pioneers up 1-0. The play came off a free kick from Brooklyn Pawelek whose shot was saved by HPU senior goalkeeper Lauren Spencer of Oxford, Mich./Oxford, but knocked into the crossbar. It ricocheted straight to Moreno who put it in the back of the net.
 
In the second half, HPU went on the strong attack and it payed off in the 67th minute. After a UAV foul, the Sharks put a free kick into the box, where freshman Tehani Furuta of Mililani, Hawai'i/Mililani gained control in a scrum and lofted her shot over the head of Pioneer goalkeeper Anekha Birdi.
 
Birdi tallied eight saves in the game for Antelope Valley against 24 total shots, while Spencer posted three saves while facing 10 shots.
 
The Sharks return to action on Tuesday afternoon against UC San Diego in non-conference play. The game is at 3 p.m. on Field 7 of the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.