PUHI — Waimea High School’s varsity boys soccer team defeated Island School, 1-nil, Wednesday afternoon at the Voyagers’ home field. “Ugly game. I’m glad we came out with a win, but it was an ugly game,” said Menehune head coach
PUHI — Waimea High School’s varsity boys soccer team defeated Island School, 1-nil, Wednesday afternoon at the Voyagers’ home field.
“Ugly game. I’m glad we came out with a win, but it was an ugly game,” said Menehune head coach Kapono Chong-Hanssen. “We have some things (to work on) to get our team together for states. I think we’re going to have to take a short, little break, come back next week and try to get everybody back on the same page.”
Menehune senior midfielder Marcus Pereira scored at the 36th minute. Junior forward Justin Fune crossed the ball into the penalty area. Sophomore midfielder Kody Gardner took a touch from Fune’s cross before Pereira stuck from inside the box.
With the result, Waimea finished its Kauai Interscholastic Federation regular season with a 9-1-2 record, accumulating 29 points.
“From KIF, we had our joyful moment. Now, it’s all about states,” Chong-Hanssen said.
Waimea was issued five yellow cards in the second half. Fune, junior forward Keane Caberto and sophomore midfielder Ian Malabe each were penalized for unsporting behavior. Gardner and junior midfielder Tayedyn Francisco were both carded for offensive language.
“We talked about this, the only thing that can ruin you for the state tournament. Losing can’t ruin it. Tying can’t ruin it. Nothing the way you play can ruin it. The only way you can do it is by doing silly, unnecessary things,” Chong-Hanssen said. “I don’t think all the yellow cards were deserved, but some of them were. The bottom line is that on Oahu, I don’t think we’re going to get treated any better.
“We need to be able to learn how to deal with it, and we didn’t deal with it well. Hopefully, it’s a lesson,” he continued.
Island School freshman forward Alae Miike had a shot on goal at the 66th minute. He struck from outside the penalty box, but the Waimea goalkeeper, sophomore Ka’imi Lau San Agustin, made the save.
Voyagers sophomore midfielder Emi De La Mora also took a chance at an equalizer at the 80th minute. He also struck from outside the 18-yard box, but the ball went wide of the post.
“It’s a game, and the boys played hard. Waimea got their opportunity to slip (a goal) into the net. Hats off to them. We had our chances again, and we didn’t capitalize on them,” said Island School head coach Sean Magoun. “More important than capitalizing on a win or loss is getting time for kids who otherwise may not have had an opportunity to play. I’m looking at this more from a developmental standpoint.”
Island School finished its season with a 4-4-4 record, accumulating 16 points.
“I think it’s an incredible achievement. We went 0-12 last year. Mind you, a lot of games were close games. But this year, we’ve shown dramatic improvement,” Magoun said. “All around, it was a wonderful improvement. And still being a fairly young team. I’m very proud of them.”
Kapaa (6-3-2 KIF, 20 points) and Kauai High (0-11-0 KIF, 0 points) will play at 11:45 a.m. Saturday at Vidinha Stadium to conclude the KIF season.
