LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation wrapped up its soccer season with four games, one being played at the Island School facility and three at Vidinha Stadium Saturday. The highlight of the day was the play-in game for the Outrigger
LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation wrapped up its soccer season with four games, one being played at the Island School facility and three at Vidinha Stadium Saturday.
The highlight of the day was the play-in game for the Outrigger Hotels and Resort Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association, Division II state girls soccer championship.
Kaua‘i’s Jannin Hashizume kicked two goals to give the Red Raider ladies an opportunity to participate on O‘ahu, with its 3-0 win over Sacred Hearts.
Earlier in the day, the Waimea Menehune boys closed its season on a winning note, 2-0 over the Island School Voyagers behind goals from Kreig Medeiros and Byron Freitas Jr.
The game between the Island School girls and the Kaua‘i Junior Varsity girls, rescheduled from last week, was canceled.
Greg Gonsalves, the Kapa‘a athletic director, said the Warrior JV boys and varsity boys games were rescheduled to allow the varsity boys (who had already earned the KIF boys championship) an opportunity to play a game instead of sitting idle.
The Outrigger Hotels and Resorts HHSAA boys soccer championships which will take place Feb. 6 through 9 at the Waipi‘o Peninsula Park on O‘ahu.
The first of three games played at Vidinha Stadium saw the Warrior JV team close out their successful season with a 4-1 win over the Kaua‘i JV boys. The Warriors were the KIF JV winners and completed an undefeated season.
Led by head coach Gary Hudson, Max Nice got the JV Warriors on the board in the 18th minute for the 1-0 half-time lead. But coming out of the break, Kaua‘i’s Shaedan Tallano deadlocked the match with his goal in the 39th minute.
The stalemate lasted for about 10 minutes before Kapa‘a’s Exekial Bagano found the net for the first of two goals at the 52nd minute for the 2-1 go-ahead.
Kapa‘a never looked back and following a goal from Matthew Schmidt at the 62nd minute and a goal from Bagano at the 70th minute, took the victory into the locker rooms.
The varsity boys’ match offered spectators a physical, hard-fought battle, ending in a 1-1 stalemate amidst the flutter of a combined five yellow card warnings being issued.
Grant Basquez booted the sole Kaua‘i goal and Sonny Check did the scoring honor for Kapa‘a.
Kaua‘i left the field with a pair of unsporting behavior warnings while Kapa‘a had one unsporting cards and two for dissent.
The pace slowed from the physical match-up to one where the Kaua‘i girls controlled the ball for most of the game after Hashizume put the Red Raider wahine on the board in the seventh minute for the 1-0 half-time lead.
Hashizume found the net again in the 64th minute and Alyssa “Malu” Vegas beating out the Sacred Hearts defender in the 66th minute, prompted changes on the field.
Kawai Hamberg, playing goalkeeper for Kaua‘i through most of the season, got an opportunity at the forward position, while Vegas replaced the goalkeeper in the box.
The Kaua‘i girls’ win will send them to the Division II state girls soccer championships at the Waipi‘o Peninsula Park on O‘ahu where they will face Seabury Hall on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
The Kapa‘a girls, earning the No. 2 seed in the Division II brackets, enjoy an opening-day bye and will face the winner of Wednesday’s Nanakulu-Honoka‘a match-up in the quarterfinals Thursday.
