Soccer teaches life’s well
Watching a recent soccer contest involving youngsters under the age of six was quite a special treat.
To the players, the score hardly matters and if they score a goal it doesn’t mean getting a shoe contract or any other endorsement deal, instead it’s all about having fun and enjoying the game they love to play. A girl that grew up on Kaua’i playing soccer is making it big up at San Diego St. Mariko Strickland of Anahola, notched another goal for the Aztecs recently in a 2-0 win over San Diego.
“Mariko says I’m her good luck charm, but I say it’s her hard work,” her father Greg said. He made the trip up to San Diego to see her play once again.
Strickland and the Aztecs play UH on tomorrow, so she’ll be reunited with some old friends and teammates, but on the opposite side of the field this time.
AYSO soccer contests continue today around the island.
To submit scores, email me at kauaisports@kauaipubco.com. Here are last week’s results:
Girls U6: Red Hots vs. Green Mean Machines
What an enjoyable, exciting and well matched game to watch! The players from both teams were attentive and enthusiastic. They all did a great job moving the ball up and down the field. Natalie Devin and Tori Hinkel of the Green Mean Machines played terrific defense by deflecting a couple of goals. Kui Leong and Kelta O’Rourke also contributed to their team effort defensively by playing tough. Offensively all the girls: Natalie, Tori, Kui and Kelta played outstanding by scoring goals for their team. An awesome play in the fourth quarter happened when Natalie corner kicked the ball to her team mate Kelta who scored the goal. Super teamwork girls.
Defensively for the Red Hots, Jaiden Taylor had great anticipation and did an excellent job positioning herself on the field in an attempt to take control of the ball. Her twin sister Kiana Taylor also played tough defense for their Red Hot team. Offensively, Sunny Patey scored the first goal of the game for the Red Hots. Lillian Okamoto had good ball control and made an outstanding pass to her team mate Mackenzie Barton who scored her first goal of the season. Sunny, Lillian, and Mackenzie collectively scored many goals. Great teamwork today girls. Again, many thanks to Heather Devin and Martha Okamoto for their great coaching.
Girls U8: Blue Dolphins vs. Supersonics
It was a well balanced match between the two Lihu’e teams as the game ended in a tie. First quarter started out with a goal from the Supersonics forward Jacelyn Perreira. Second quarter the Blue Dolphins scored with two goals from Kaylee Balbarino. Third quarter and a goal to tie the score came from Supersonics forward Jacelyn Perreira. Fourth quarter ended with no score from either team. Outstanding goalies for the Supersonics are Rachel Marshall, Kilinoe Garcia, Jennifer Doiron and Ally Pascual. Outstanding forwards are Jacelyn Perreira, Mariel Yano, Ally Pascual, Jennifer Doiron, Rachel Marshall and Kilinoe Garcia. Outstanding players for the Lihue Blue Dolphins are: Tayzia Okami, Chase Tokita, Kaisa Ishikawa, Tiani Wada-Sonoda, Krysta Gayagas, Kiana Narimatsu and Kaylee Balbarino. Coaches for the Lihue Supersonics are Clyde Caires, Jay Perreira and Cheryl Perreira. Out sick for the Supersonics was Caley Caires. Coaches for the Lihue Blue Dolphins are Matt Gayagas and Shelton Wada.
Boys U8: Sea Dragons vs. Silver Rockets
It was another great match-up when the Wailua Sea Dragons played the Kapaa Silver Rockets on Saturday at the Wailua Houselots Park.
The Sea Dragons did an amazing job playing the entire game with only four players. Despite their small team size these boys rocked the field as each player took turns defending their goal and scoring for their team. Cheers to team members are Raymond Duarte, Jayson Hawthorne, Jonah Howard, and Coleman Langstaff. The Kapa’a Silver Rockets also did a great job on the field. They were good competitors and worked hard on the field. They also did an unbelievable job at defending their goal. Team members for the Silver Rockets are Makoa Rapozo, Eljay Comat, Gabriel Sufuentez, Clifton Oliver, Gabriel Keener, Dylan Koerte, and Micah Arii-Keidser.
Superb coaching by Curtis Langstaff of the Sea Dragons and Elena Perreira of the Silver Rockets. Great game everyone!
Green Guardians 4, Devils 3
Green Guardians goals: Kunane Kahale, Koa Pinkerton, Blaze Rendon, James Thesken. Outstanding: Kal Anacleto, Logan Baptiste, Jordan Deason, Race Nakamura, Curtis Santos. Devils goals: Max Berger, Bronson Griep, Thomas Simpkins. Outstanding: Tyler Toyopuko, Jamie Amimoto, Kalen Celebrado, Hilo Chock, Mikel Keller-Howard, Leighton Villanueva, Bradley Mendoza, Brevin Ako, Trysten Caberto.
The Lihue E Golden Dragons took their team on the road to Kalaheo to play the Koloa A team in U8 boys action. The weather held up and so did the Dragon offense. When the game was finished perennial power house Cal Koga had knocked in five goals with Tytan Heresa and Andrew Vetter adding one more each. Final score Lihue 7, Koloa 0.
U6: Green Mean Machines vs. Red Hots
What an exciting well-matched soccer game this was! The players from both teams were attentive and enthusiastic participants. They all did an outstanding job moving the ball up and down the field. Natalie Devin and Kelta O’Rourke from the Green Mean Machines did a particularly great job on defense by blocking the ball and deflecting goals from being scored. All the girls: Natalie, Kelta, Kui Leong and Tori Hinkel played well offensively – each contributing goals for their team.. A great play in the fourth quarter happened when Natalie corner kicked the ball into Kelta and a goal was scored. Super team work girls.
For the Red Hots Jaiden Taylor had great anticipation and field positioning on defense. Her twin sister Kiana Taylor also played tough defensively. Offensively, The Red Hots were hot! Sunny Patey played very well and scored the first goal for her team. She also assisted and scored again in the game. Lillian Okamoto demonstrated good ball control. She successfully passed to her team mate Mackenzie Barton who then scored her first goal of the season. Way to go Mackenzie!! Terrific game girls.
Again, many thanks to Heather Devin and Martha Okamoto for their great coaching.
Boys U10: Warriors vs. Hanalei
It was a long and hard battle for both the Wailua Warriors and Hanalei as they scrambled thru the hot, humid weather. The Warriors offense started off as Victor Sanchez scored the first goal, Justyn Nagahisa continued on to score a hat trick while Gianni Giannotti made a spectacular goal to seal the finish.
Incredible warriors were Cameron Althouse, Adan Elizalde, Dylan Montoya, Tenzin Ray, Dazmon Sasil, and Emanuel Zafirides (a fearless goal keeper). The game ended in a close score since both teams demonstrated quick offensive skills and strong defensive blocks.
Boy U8: Warriors vs. Devil Rays
The Wailua Warriors met the Kapaa Devil Rays for a second time, this time on Wailua’s turf.
The Warriors as well as the Devil Rays played hard to the finish but the Warriors had some magic up their sleeves as 2 players had hat tricks of their own. It was the speediness of Bobby Bartolo Jr. who put the Warriors on the charts in the first minute of the game, then the Nagahisa cousins, Kobe and Treston were unstoppable and scored a hat trick each. Seth Francisco, David Heiser and Larry Rupert made up the Warrior’s ultimate defense. The Devil Rays began to regroup in the second half and tried to make a comeback as Leslee Aki and Leighton Moniz scored in the last few minutes of the game. The Awesome Devil Rays included Kirk Machado, Julian Coccimiglio, and Shawn Yamane who displayed great passing skills and a lot of heart.
Girls U12: Stealers 5, Pink Panthers 1
Outstanding players: Samantha Hawkins, Ashley Obemyer, Shannon Ornellas, Sierra DeForge, Koral Linser, Melissa Seymour, Kelsey Duvachelle, Jannin Hashizume, Anolani Coon.
The Eastside Stealers began their lead with #7 sending a high bounce over the Panthers. Eastside Stealer added two more goals in the first 1/4.
The score remained 3-0 until the fourth 1/4 as the Pink Panthers exhibited great team play and passing skills but could not capitalize on the Eastside goaly’s good defense.
The Panthers did put the scare on the Stealers as they scored early in the fourth. This score only fired #12 up who added 2 more goals to her talley ending the game 5-1 Stealers.
Flaming Falcons vs. Blue Tsunami
Goals for Flaming Falcons were Brock Tacata and Chris Milan. Players with outstanding offense and defense were John Cachero, Bradley Ceballos, Jamin Fernandez, Makai Hoeppner, Drake Kaohelaulii, Bradley Lumabao, Jaron Parongao, Noah Penner, and Tyler Yamamoto. From the Blue Tsunami for a single goal was Lansen and contributing great offense and defense as well were John, Bradley, Charles, Nicholas, Colby, Shaedan, Jack and Keone. Coaches were from Waimea Dave Walker and Lihu’e Coach Lance.
Boys U10: Galaxies 4, Flaming Falcons 1
Kalaheo Galaxies: Goal Scorers: Kreig Medeiros (2), Jared Okayama (1), Javan Torres (1). Outstanding Players: Kanai Banasihan, Justin Garma, Kevin Ikeda, Elijah Kali, Clayton Martin, Blaise Thompson.
Flaming Falcons: Goal Scorer: Chris Milan. Outstanding Players: Drake Kaohelaulii, John Cachero, Bradley Lumabao, Tyler Yamamoto, Jamin Fernandez, Jaron Parongao, Bradley Ceballos, Makai Hoeppner, Noah Penner, Reed Powell.
Boys U8: Jaguars 3, Flaming Kickers 1
Flaming Kickers’ Rayden Bonilla and Kasoni Wolf, and the Jaguars Chris Rennie, Jacob Jones, and Haku Barriga played extremely well.
Both teams forded a strong defense, but when the whistle blew, Waimea was the victor, 3-1. Excellent defensive play by Waimea Jaguar’s Haku Barriga, Kekai San Agustin-Nordmeier, Devon Hartsell, Jeremy Atkins and Evan Hensley. Strong defenders for Lihue Flaming Kickers included TJ Kim, Mathew Simpkins, and Mathew Louis. Goals Waimea: Haku Barriga (1), Chris Rennie (1) and Jacob Jones (1). Goal Lihue: Rayden Bonilla.
