LIHU‘E — A hat trick and a shootout heralded the start of the Will Veeck soccer tournament, which unfolded Monday at the North Vidinha fields, with two American Youth Soccer Organization, Region 940 teams emerging victorious.
The Southside Seahawks, the AYSO, Region 940 Boys 12 and younger No. 2 team, faced off against the Blue Angels, the AYSO, Region 941 Boys 12 and younger team.
On the girls’ field, AYSO, Region 940 Coach Kevin Bukoski’s Kololoa, the Westside Region’s top Girls 14 and younger team, squared off against AYSO, Region 941 Coach Donna Palmer and the Predators.
With two games being played simultaneously, fans got their money’s worth as the Southside Seahawks struck first, Dodger Middlebrook getting the first of his three goals, or hat trick, within the first two minutes of play.
Middlebrook was in position on a corner kick, which soared over the pack at the goal mouth, the Blue Angel defender smartly heading the ball to the midfield where Middlebrook captured it and followed with the putback.
He repeated the show in the second quarter, capitalizing on another corner kick.
A minute later, Conor Hunt found the net for the 3-0 Seahawk lead at the break despite the Blue Angels getting several scoring opportunities, but being unable to close the door.
Middlebrook brought the reading to 4-0 when he netted his third goal at the end of the third quarter.
But the Blue Angels were not down as the team went on the offensive and pocketed two goals within a minute of each other to trim the lead to 4-2, Alae Miike getting the ball past the Seahawk goalkeeper in traffic and the score being followed when Logan Noice, prowling the outside, picked up the ball and closed the door.
With Middlebrook sitting out the period on mandatory play, the Seahawks got a final goal from Ryan Yavinsky in the waning minutes of the game for the 5-2 final.
A highly-defensive slugfest blanketed the Girls Under 14 matchup where the Predators’ goalkeeper performed some miraculous saves of Kololoa shot-on-goals while the Koloa lavender shirts relied on close team play to contain the Predators.
Cambria Ort, playing key positions through each of the periods, had the final song, punching out a goal during the shootout to give Kololoa its 2-1 win.
Earlier in the game, Ort anchored the midfield and marked the first goal after punching in the ball after the Predator goalie went down in front the mouth.
The goal stood until the second half when the Predators’ April Barnes found the goal to knot the contest at 1-1, and despite concerted efforts at offense, Kololoa could not overcome the Predator defense to force the shootoff.
Action continues at the North Vidinha fields starting at 4 p.m. when the East-Handy takes on the AYSO, Region 941 Girls Under 12 squad while on the second field, Hanapepe-Duldulao, a Boys Under 14 team, will face North-Lee.
The Will Veeck soccer tournament continues through Saturday at the North Vidinha fields.
The public is invited to view the competition between the top two teams of the Boys Under 12, Girls Under 12, Boys Under 14 and Girls Under 14 in AYSO, Regions 940 and 941.
Championship play for the tournament will take place Saturday.
•Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
