LIHUE — Kapaa High School girls soccer had an opportunity to tie on the last play of the Kauai Interscholastic Federation girls soccer game contested at the Vidinha Stadium, Wednesday.
The Warriors’ midfielder was fouled near the goal box setting up an indirect kick that went wide of the goalmouth, triggering the whistle marking the end of the 2-1 win by Kauai High School.
“We did really well for about a third of the game connecting passes and creating scoring opportunities,” said Kapaa coach Andrea Alfiler. “But Kauai really came at us in the second half, and kudos to them for their effort. We’re excited for how our girls will progress through the season.”
Kapaa midfielder Talia Washington opened the scorebooks in the 21st minute after breaking away from the midfield defensive traffic and firing off the shot at nearly point-blank range.
“She’s a special individual,” said Kauai coaches Chance Bukoski and Joseph Cassler. “We played like she’s 100 percent, keeping the ball to the side when she was on the field. Kapaa is a good team, and they came to play, today. We’re stoked that our girls took a breath during the break and came back to play in the second half.”
Coming off a 1-0 Kapaa advantage at the half, Kauai lost little time answering the deficit when Eyrka Napoleon was johnny-on-the-spot after the Kapaa goalkeeper mishandled a stop at the goalmouth in heavy traffic during the 49th minute of play.
Kauai broke the physically strong defensive jockeying in the 74th minute after one of its players was fouled close to the goalbox, sending Tia Fulks to do the penalty kick honors for Kauai’s second goal.
With six minutes remaining, Kapaa shifted its focus to offense, but came up short after the indirect went wide.
Kapaa next travels to the Island School campus, Saturday when the varsity boys play their first game of the season against the Voyagers starting at 10 a.m. The varsity girls follow starting at noon.
Kauai will travel to Hanapepe Stadium where the varsity girls kick off at 10 a.m. followed by the junior varsity boys taking the field starting at noon. A special program honoring former Waimea coach Mark Kennett will precede the varsity boys contest that is scheduled to start at 1:45 p.m.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
