Warriors drop preseason opener

Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

Kapaa’s April Barnes and Hilo’s Jordyn Pacheco battle for ball control midfield in the second half, Friday during a preseason soccer game at Vidinha Stadium. Pacheco scored a hat trick in Hilo’s 5-1 win.

Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

Kapaa’s Kyla Bandsma traps a ball as Hilo’s Hollie Saplan comes in on the play in the second half, Friday at Vidinha Stadium.

Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

The Kapaa goalkeeper reacts as Hilo’s Miya Clarke follows her shot and Kapaa’s Taelyn Nunes defends in the second half, Friday at Vidinha Stadium.

Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

Hilo’s goalkeeper reacts as Kapaa’s Brianna Binder follows her shot and Hilo’s Caneel Corpuz and Karla Ishii defend in the second half, Friday at Vidinha Stadium.

LIHUE — Kapaa High School’s varsity girls soccer team lost to Hilo High School in a preseason contest Friday afternoon.

The Warriors fell to the Vikings, 5-1, at Vidinha Stadium.

“We knew Hilo was going to be physical,” said Kapaa head coach Mytra McKeague. “They were young last year. Physical team. They’re a good team. We tried our best. We always tell our girls that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. So, it’s a great learning experience for us.”

After giving up three goals in the first half, Kapaa cut into the deficit just after halftime. Warriors forward Brianna Binder scored at the 44th minute from inside the 18-yard box, the assist coming from forward April Barnes.

Hilo, of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, netted two more goals following Binder’s score.

Vikings forward Jordyn Pacheco scored at the 72nd minute inside the penalty box to record a hat trick. Her first two goals were scored at the 30th and 40th minutes.

Vikings forward Miya Clarke netted two goals as well — one in each half.

“We got some speed, and we got some good goal scorers,” said Hilo head coach Skee Saplan. “We got to try to show our defense a little bit. Beginning of the second half, we tried some different formations — put some different girls in different positions. So, started a little bit slow. But once we moved it around back, we picked up the pace and finished strong.”

Hilo will be playing in two preseason matches today. The Vikings will face Kauai High School at 10 a.m. and then will play Waimea High School at 3:30 p.m.

Both matches will be played at Hanapepe Stadium.

“We love coming to Kauai. All the teams treat us really good, and we usually get some really good games here,” Saplan said. “We love coming here. We try to do it every year. This is our sixth or seventh, I think, year coming here.”

McKeague said her team will play in four more preseason matches later this month on Oahu.

“I look at them as learning experiences. I think all of the coaching staff does,” she said of the preseason. “Hopefully, we can work on things we saw that went wrong today, and move on.”

Score summary

Hilo: Jordyn Pacheco 3 (30’, 40’, 72’), Miya Clarke 2 (28’, 70’)

Kapaa: Brianna Binder (44’)

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