Punzal boots game winner for UH

Maybe a change of scenery was all the Hawaii soccer team needed.

Senior co-captains Mari Punzal and Chelsea Deptula led the Rainbow Wahine soccer team to a 3-2 win over San Francisco at the 16th Cal Invitational yesterday in Berkeley, Calif.

Punzal put in the game-winner in the 85th minute on a pass from Kaylee Kihara after Deptula scored twice to give UH (2-3) a 2-0 lead early in the second half.

The Dons (3-1) came back with goals by Hanna Haanes and Christina Moberg in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to prevent USF’s first loss of the season. The Wahine snapped a two-game skid, and improved to 6-4-1 in the all-time series.

"We played exceedingly well the first 20 minutes, then played sloppily," UH coach Pinsoom Tenzing said. "Then we came back strong early in the second half. We gave away two goals, young-team mistakes. Then came Mari’s really, really wonderful goal."

Swords fall twice in road tourney

The Chaminade volleyball team fell to Fort Lewis 21-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-17 in the morning game of the Oredigger Volleyball Classic in Golden, Colo.

The Silverswords went on to drop the afternoon game in straight sets, 25-10, 25-17, 25-14 to tournament host Colorado School of Mines.

Chaminade now drops to 0-2 while the Orediggers improved to 1-0.

Lady Sea Warriors rally twice

Hawaii Pacific rallied from behind on its way to defeating Ashland 21-25, 26-28, 25-18, 25-18, 15-11 yesterday in the opening round of the Vulcan Classic in Hilo.

Brittany Snider led all hitters with 30 kills in the loss.

HPU went on to rally from two games down to defeat Montana State-Billings 21-25, 20-25, 25-14, 25-14, 17-15 in the afternoon game.

Irons wins Billabong Pro

Hawaii’s Andy Irons took out C.J. Hobgood in the final round of the Billabong Pro Tahiti yesterday.

Irons’ final round score of 14.67 was nearly double Hobgood’s 8.33 final score as Irons went on to collect the winner’s prize money of $50,000.

Parade for youth sports champions

There will be a "Parade of Champions" on Sept. 12 for the Waipio Little League All-Stars and seven other youth sports teams and individuals.

The parade will be held in Waipio-Gentry and will start at 10 a.m. at Waipio Uka Street and conclude at the Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Masoli cleared to play for Ole Miss

OXFORD, Miss. » In another surprising twist to a month-long saga, Mississippi quarterback Jeremiah Masoli has been cleared to play football.

Three days ago, the NCAA ruled that the former Oregon quarterback had to sit out a season after enrolling at Mississippi. But the university appealed that decision and announced yesterday that the NCAA Division I Subcommittee for Legislative Relief had overturned the first ruling.

Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said he couldn’t talk about specifics of the appeals hearing, but was thrilled with the committee’s decision.

Masoli, a Saint Louis School alumnus, is expected to be the Rebels’ starting quarterback this season, though Nutt said sophomore Nathan Stanley will start against Jacksonville State today.

Former Warrior arrested on DUI suspicion

Boise State running backs coach Keith Bhonapha, a former University of Hawaii player, has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and won’t make the trip to the Broncos’ season opener in the Washington, D.C., area.

According to the Ada County Sheriff’s Department, Bhonapha was arrested just before 2 a.m. yesterday.

The third-ranked Broncos play No. 10 Virginia Tech on Monday in Landover, Md.