PUHI — Micah Kradin, Tony Apodaca, and Jamie DeBonet each netted a goal as the Kaua‘i Water Polo outscored O‘ahu, 3-2 in the final period of the Kaua‘i Cup championship game, Sunday.
But the effort fell short as O‘ahu captured the Cup with a 14-7 win at the YMCA Kaua‘i pool court.
Despite the loss, KWP coach Billy Brown said he was pleased with the progress made by the KWP players.
“All in all, it was a great weekend,” Brown said. “I am so proud of how much better we have gotten as a team, especially after only playing together for two years.”
Brown, donning the goalkeeper’s cap, finished with six saves before exchanging the keeper’s cap for the role of forward in the second half. He finished Saturday’s 15-10 loss with a game-high seven saves.
Aaron Waldrip opened the books early for O‘ahu in the opening stanza, scoring two of his game-total five nets with Kawika Saciak, the lone player from Maui, adding one for the 3-0 O‘ahu bulge.
O‘ahu continued the offensive momentum in the second frame, mounting a 5-2 period for an 8-2 halftime lead, this period being led by Scott Harvey who netted two of his game-total four goals.
The O‘ahu squad continued at that pace for the remainder of the game.
Kaua‘i finished the day with Kradin netting two goals, followed by Brown, DeBonet, Brad Rockwell, Apodaca, and Ryan Mahoney each netting a goal. Ron Bush, taking over as goalkeeper, finished with one save.
The validity of Kaua‘i’s shot attempts was seen in Robby Fields’ eight saves and Aukai Ferguson adding two for 10 saves compared with the seven for Kaua‘i.
During the Saturday semifinal, Harvey led the field with eight goals followed by Saciak with five and Waldrip with two. Field finished with five saves and Ferguson added one.
Tiloi Alapa led the Kaua‘i offensive effort with four goals followed by Kradin adding two nets and Brown, DeBonet, Rockwell and Apodaca each scoring once. Brown finished with seven saves as the keeper.
Brown said there was a lot of polo being played during the two days of the Kaua‘i Cup, a kids game preceding the O‘ahu game followed by a clinic by the O‘ahu players.
Following the O‘ahu-Kaua‘i matches, players combined for mixed games on both days.
Brown said the Kaua‘i Cup concludes the Kaua‘i Water Polo season for 2010. Action resumes in the spring of 2011.
