There were 29 players and eight coaches arriving here. That was almost twice the number of a Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation boys soccer squad, and for good reason. The Mililani High School boys soccer team took on all three of Kaua‘i’s
There were 29 players and eight coaches arriving here.
That was almost twice the number of a Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation boys soccer squad, and for good reason.
The Mililani High School boys soccer team took on all three of Kaua‘i’s high school teams in less than two days in a pre-season series that ended early Saturday afternoon.
Opening with a lead following a Kapa‘a hand ball Friday night, Cory Nakagawa found the net at close range at the 7-minute mark.
But Kapa‘a recovered from the miscue and went on to hand the Trojans a 2-1 defeat before a nice audience at the New Kapa‘a Town Park.
Mililani took control of the field, but Kapa‘a, feeling its way through a new season, was able to close the holes and keep the Trojans at bay.
Chance Bukoski found the net for Kapa‘a from the rightside at the 31st minute to lock things up 1-1 at the half as the audience scrambled to get updates on the University of Hawai‘i football game being played in Reno, Nevada.
Dylan James locked up the win for Kapa‘a in the second half as the Trojans prepared to meet the two remaining schools Saturday.
The Mililani yellow team took the field against Waimea who used the matchup to work both its varsity and junior varsity squads against the visitors.
“We only had a couple of days to work with the boys,” said Darren Kosen, one of the Waimea coaches, following their 2-0 loss at the hands of the Trojans.
The Menehune got a strong showing from its goalkeeper who stopped several driving shot attempts from the Trojans, and its wings could find opportunities to move the ball upfield only to have the Trojan defense stop them at the goalmouth.
In that opening skirmish, Anthony Ater and Aaron Yokoyama netted goals for the Trojans.
The black team returned to the field for Mililani’s second Saturday matchup, this time against Kaua‘i High School.
Ryan Wert led the Trojans with two second-half goals en route to its 6-1 win over the Raiders to wrap up its Kaua‘i trip with a 2-1 record.
Colin Lund opened the Mililani scorebooks in the 9th minute on a header into the goal through heavy goalmouth traffic.
The Trojans broke a defensive slugfest in the 22nd minute on a backdoor play when its sweeper, Thomas Watanabe, capitalized on a corner kick when the Raiders were drawn out by Mililani players, leaving Watanabe free to score.
Less than five minutes later, Alan Albertazzi scored on a free kick for the 3-0 halftime lead.
Mililani opened the second half with back-to-back scores from Wert for a 5-0 bulge within 10 minutes of the period.
But Kaua‘i kept adjusting and was able to answer when Gerry Rayray netted a goal to cap a nice breakaway play with just about five minutes left in the game.
Matt Cheape iced the Mililani win on a goal in the final two minutes of play.
Kevin Devitt, one of the coaches for the Kaua‘i High School girls soccer team, said the Red Raider girls finished their Big Island pre-season trip with a 2-1 record.
Playing in a pre-season tournament, Kaua‘i did not allow a goal in its two straight wins before falling to Kamehameha-Hawai‘i, 3-1.
Shannon Pabo, who scored one of the two goals in Kaua‘i’s 2-0 win over Waiakea, netted Kaua‘i’s sole score on a cross from Brandi Gomes in their drop to Kamehameha.
Joining Pabo, Michelle Kato scored the second goal in the Red Raiders’ win over Waiakea.
Gomes had the only score in the Red Raiders’ 1-0 win over Hilo in its second game at the pre-season series.
KIF soccer starts on Dec. 5 when Kaua‘i hosts Kapa‘a at Vidinha Stadium for a varsity only matchup. The first game is scheduled for 4 p.m. with the second contest to start no earlier than 6 p.m.
