LIHU‘E — Dylan Devin knew that what he was doing would kick him out of the next game. He didn’t care. In the final 10 seconds of Wednesday’s KIF boys soccer match between Waimea and Kapa‘a, Waimea mounted one final
LIHU‘E — Dylan Devin knew that what he was doing would kick him out of the next game. He didn’t care.
In the final 10 seconds of Wednesday’s KIF boys soccer match between Waimea and Kapa‘a, Waimea mounted one final attack, hoping to tie the score at 2-2. In the final seconds, the Kapa‘a defense broke down, and all of a sudden the ball was heading into the Warrior net. That’s when Devin extended his left hand and swatted the ball out of the air. The play was whistled dead. Devin was given a red card and the Menehune were awarded a last-second penalty shot.
Prepared to settle for a tie, the Warriors bench erupted when Wyatt Taniguchi’s penalty shot sailed wide-right, securing the Kapa‘a win.
“It went from expecting a tie to seeing the miss and knowing that we won,” Kapa‘a head coach Kevin Cram said. “It’s incredible.”
The Menehune brought themselves back into contention in the final 10 minutes after the Warriors had dominated the first 70. The Menehune had jumped to a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute following a Byron Freitas lob over the head of Kapa‘a keeper Shane Nishioka-Healy. But the Warriors controlled possession from there on and tied it in the 29th minute on a Devin goal and then took the lead in the 50th when Joshua Cram crossed a shot from the right side into the top-left corner of the net.
But in the final minutes Wednesday, the Menehune — whose bench was only two-men deep — came alive. Kapa‘a couldn’t clear the zone and the Menehune assaulted the Warrior net.
It finally looked like Waimea had tied the game as the ball flew toward the Kapa‘a goal in the last second, but that’s when Devin sacrificed himself for the next game.
“I saw the ball and it was going in the goal. I couldn’t reach it, so I stuck out my hand,” Devin said. “I was just trying to keep it out. I knew immediately what I had done.”
The handball and subsequent miss secured three crucial points for the Warriors, who had a three-point lead over the Menehune entering the game. With the win, the Warriors now hold a four-point edge over the Kaua‘i Red Raiders, who were 4-1 victors over the Island School Voyagers Wednesday afternoon.
With four games remaining, the three-points from the handball were big for the Warriors, but they come at the expense of losing Devin for Saturday’s game against the Red Raiders.
Coach Cram said it was worth it.
“Definitely. If you look at it, it preserved a win of this match and we’ll see what it cost us for the next game.”
The loss dropped the Menehune to third place — now six points behind the Warriors. Menehune head coach Dalton Matsuyama said the way the Menehune fought back and put them in the position to tie the game was more important than the devastating fashion of the end.
“The boys played hard regardless of the outcome,” Matsuyama said. “They don’t quit. That’s what I’m most proud of. They’re a team and they stick together and fight to the end. It’s a hard way to end it.”
Devin said he knew how the Menehune were feeling, but ultimately the Warriors got the win and he was happy.
“I’m pretty stoked,” he said. “We needed three points. We’d be tied if we lost. So yeah, it was worth it.”
• Tyson Alger, sports writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or by emailing talger@ thegardenisland.com. Follow him on twitter.com/tysonalger.
