There was beauty in the eyes of BYUH beholders this weekend as Natasha Aiona netted a hat trick in the Seasiders' 5-0 romp of PacWest newcomer Academy of Art (Calif.).

The sophomore from South Jordan, Utah, had registered an assist but no goals in BYUH's three prior games.

Aiona scored the first of her goals on a rebound 33 minutes into the contest. She added two more in the second half — one off passes from Emily Mearns and Margaret Sekona, and another off a baseline play from Sekona and Sarah Welty.

First-year Seasiders coach William Mahoni was surprised by neither Aiona's quiet start nor her offensive eruption Saturday.

While the team "absolutely" relies on Aiona's scoring, Mahoni said, they benefit even more on her powerful on-field presence.

"She commands well," he said. "When she speaks, other players listen. But in addition to that, when she commands on the field, she does so by example. When she isn't on the field, because of how young our team is, the other girls aren't as confident."

Saturday's match also saw the return of a little bit of swagger in the backfield as goalkeeper Becky Ploeger returned to the lineup following her recovery from injury.

Demonstrating equal measures of savvy and intimidation, the sophomore from Broomfield, Colo., so flustered one Academy of Art penalty kicker by playing with the ball in front of her before the shot, that the kicker ended up blasting the ball high over the goal.

"She did what we wanted," Mahoni said of Ploeger. "It was nothing dirty or insulting, but she thoroughly intimidated that girl."

Ploeger was credited with four saves in a performance Mahoni called "brilliant."

Mahoni's transition has been eased by the return of pre-season all-conference selections Aiona and Welty, last year's co-Freshman of the Year, and senior Kahanu Ah Puck. He's also gotten stellar contributions from freshmen like Kami Strait, a tall, athletic sweeper with sprinter speed, and Sekona, a prolific scorer from the forward position.

To bring all of that talent together, Mahoni and his staff emphasize the importance of "the last 2 percent."

"We expect them to bring 110 percent effort to every game, but it's the last 2 percent of that (which) really counts on game day," he said. "That last 2 percent of perfection is what allows them to perform with composure under intense pressure."

THE DALEY SHOW

The UH-Hilo men's soccer team improved to a PacWest-best 5-1 on the season thanks to some timely heroics by senior midfielder Dustin Daley, downing HPU, 2-1, in the championship match of the 2008 Hawai'i Challenge this weekend.

The Sea Warriors led early off a Linus Ekden goal. Drew Geis evened the score later with a scoring header.

Daley wasted no time in the extra period, scoring a goal just 1:38 into the period.

The Vulcans are ranked No. 7 in the most recent NSCAA/Adidas Far West Regional ranking.

BYUH TOPS CAL BAPTIST

Viktor Behzani and Adam Maciejewski scored one goal apiece to lift Brigham Young-Hawai'i over California Baptist, 2-1, in men's soccer yesterday at La'ie.

Gabriel Gonzalez's goal in the 87th minute closed Cal Baptist to 2-1. Behzani scored in the 62nd minute, Maciejewski in the 86th.

CHAMINADE LIVE

Live from Wai'alae Avenue, it's ... Chaminade?

The Silverswords athletic department is providing fans real-time updates on home games via its new www.goswords.com Web page.

Live scoring for volleyball, and men's and women's soccer is available by clicking on the "Live Stats" area on the right of the page. Men's and women's basketball will be added in the winter, with softball to follow in the spring. The page is accessible at www.goswords.com.