LIHUE — The Warriors have won back-to-back matches to start their 2017 campaign.
Kapaa High School’s varsity girls soccer team defeated Waimea High School, 12-nil, in a chilly and breezy Wednesday afternoon at Vidinha Stadium.
“So far, so good. We always tell them, ‘Progress, not perfection,’” said Kapaa head coach Mytra McKeague. “We’re working day-to-day to get better.”
Warriors senior forward Brianna Binder scored five goals to lead the Warriors.
Binder netted her hat trick goal at the 71st minute. She stole the ball from a Menehune player at midfield and scored from inside the penalty area.
She then scored two more times in the waning minutes.
“That’s definitely the highest I’ve ever scored,” Binder said. “It’s not just myself that scored all the goals. It’s the team. I wouldn’t have been able to score all those goals if it weren’t for my teammates being able to pass it to me.”
Binder added of the team’s early win streak: “We’re a whole new team. Being that we’re connecting balls and being able to have that chemistry like we were in the past, I think that’s what we’re doing well — kind of settling down and getting to know each other.”
Kapaa (2-0 KIF) scored five goals in the first half then seven in the second half.
Warriors freshman forward Dina Hayes, senior forward Paris Tangelder and senior outside halfback Kyla Bandsma each netted a brace, or two goals, in Wednesday’s match.
“We were just trying to make simple passes and try to get open for each other, and work together as a team,” McKeague said.
Binder added: “What really opened up was we were playing wide. We had more runners coming on outside, and we had more of an attack in space rather that smushing it up in the middle.”
Waimea (0-2 KIF) had few scoring chances throughout. The Menehune were awarded a couple of corner kicks in the first half, but weren’t able to capitalize on the chances.
Despite allowing the 12 goals, Menehune goalkeeper Leiko Yamauchi also made several saves during the contest.
Neither coaches or players from Waimea’s team were available for comment following the match.
Kapaa will play Kauai High School at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Vidinha Stadium.
Waimea will play at Island School on Saturday at noon.
Scoring summary
Kapaa: Brianna Binder 5 (2’, 45’, 71’, 74’, 80’), Dina Hayes 2 (3’, 7’), Paris Tangelder 2 (19’, 79’), Kyla Bandsma 2 (41’, 68’), Maya Loughead (14’)
