HANAPEPE — The last time the Kapa‘a Warriors boys’ soccer team ventured into Hanapepe Stadium, Waimea’s Devan Banashihan-Kenny welcomed the East siders with three goals and a 4-2 Menehune win. A month later, the Warriors came back to the West
HANAPEPE — The last time the Kapa‘a Warriors boys’ soccer team ventured into Hanapepe Stadium, Waimea’s Devan Banashihan-Kenny welcomed the East siders with three goals and a 4-2 Menehune win.
A month later, the Warriors came back to the West side with one goal in mind: Stopping Banashihan-Kenny. It worked.
The Warriors shut down the Waimea speedy wing and used a sixth minute Dylan Devin goal to beat the Menehune, 1-0 Saturday afternoon at Hanapepe Stadium.
With memories of Banashihan-Kenney’s three goals fresh in their minds, Warriors’ head coach Kevin Cram said the main goal Saturday was to keep Waimea’s go-to man in check.
“Their main attack is (Banashihan-Kenney) on the wing,” Cram said. “If we can slow him down we match up well enough to protect.”
With the wind at their backs, the Warriors made sure to capitalize early in the game.
Kapa‘a jumped in the lead on a broken play that ended with a crossing pass to the right leg of Devin.
The play began when Tanner Henry brought the ball deep into Menehune territory along the right side of the field. It appeared the Menehune defender thought the ball went out of bounds and let up, leaving Henry a clear path to the net. When the Menehune defenders closed on Henry, he booted a ball to the top of the goal-mouth, which Devin promptly tapped in with his right leg.
“Their defender stopped and we were able to get the cross in,” Cram said. “We work on (the crossing playing) a lot. We don’t use it as much as we’d like but when we do it creates opportunities.”
The Warriors maintained possession for the majority of the first half, fueling themselves for a strong defensive second half with the wind going in Waimea’s favor.
Crams said the Menehune are a team that capitalizes on speed, and with the wind helping them in the second half, the Warriors needed to shut down the wings.
“Their strength is that speed and agility,” Cram said. “With them going with the win, it was a strong test for our defense.”
The Warriors stingy defense kept the Menehune and Banashihan-Kenney in check, leaving Kapa‘a with a fulfilled goal, and more importantly, a win.
In girls action preceding the boys’ game, the Waimea wahine picked up their first point of the season with a 1-1 tie with the Kapa‘a Warriors.
The young Menehune team has worked all season on creating team chemistry and Saturday it finally paid off.
The Menehune struck first, with a Holly Ka‘aikapu goal but the Warriors answered with a Taylor Ochoa equalizer to end the first half.
The second half was a defensive battle, with the highlight being a diving save by Waimea keeper Sondra Jocinto on a Rachel Hinkel shot in the final minutes of the game.
“We played pretty good today,” Waimea head coach J.J. Simbre said. “It’s been a work in progress all year but it’s coming around. We played tough. I’m proud of them.”
• Tyson Alger, sports writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or by emailing talger@ thegardenisland.com. Follow him on twitter.com/tysonalger.
