PUHI — Hilo High School’s Hollie Saplan took a shot Sunday, but came up empty at the Island School field against the Island School Voyagers.
“Keep trying, Hollie,” chorused the Viking bench from under a tent — protection against the rising heat at the Voyager fields. “That’s No. 2,000.”
Saplan tried and tried, but came up empty against the Island School goalkeeper Hannah Whelan who, despite good saves, gave up six goals to the Vikings, during preseason girls soccer action.
Jordyn Pacheco, who scored a hat trick against Kapaa Friday afternoon, picked up another pair of goals against the Voyagers. Nanea Moke-Rabang, scoring Hilo’s sole goal against Kauai High School Saturday, fired up a pair of goal against Island School, and goals from Miya Clarke and Kalamanamana Harman rounded out the 6-0 win for the Vikings.
“This was a good finish to the trip,” said Hilo coach Skee Saplan. “We’re still trying to figure out our formations and decide who is going to fill certain spots. This Kauai trip is good for us. We always get good games from the Kauai teams, and the schedule, four games in three days, gets us ready for the Big Island Interscholastic Federation season. We have a rough start, playing the four games, including facing the top three Big Island teams, in a short amount of time.”
Island School was kept on the defensive through most of the 80 minutes, Whelan getting a workout in both halves before being replaced by Emma Kelekoma late in the game.
“Hannah had a real good game today,” said Island School coach Colby Ayonon. “She did real well. We’ve been training for just about three weeks and this game gives us the opportunity to move a lot of players and see what they can do. Hilo is a real good team, and I’m glad they could squeeze us into their schedule. For us, it’s still a long road ahead.”
The Voyagers also got good play out of Katie Cook, whose defensive antics in the second half drew praise from the Hilo coaching staff. They also had their moments with Lola Temme, who anchored the defense in the first half, and good movement in the middle.
Hilo took a 7-1 win over Waimea High School Saturday at Hanapepe Stadium behind a pair of goals from Samantha Chung and Kylie Kalauli. Kiana Corpuz, Daliah Cruz-Murray and Harman each added a goal in that victory that came following a 2-1 loss to Kauai High School at Hanapepe Saturday morning.
Jacelyn Ragragola scored for Waimea.
The Kauai Interscholastic Federation opens soccer Dec. 3 when the Kauai and Kapaa girls tangle at Vidinha Stadium, with the junior varsity game starting at 10 a.m. followed by the varsity matchup at 11:45 a.m.
Waimea High School will travel to the Island School field for a single game — varsity kicking off at 10 a.m.
Thank you for your coverage of the visiting Hilo team!