PUHI — The Voyagers are on a two-game win streak.
Island School’s varsity boys soccer team defeated Kauai High School, 2-0, Wednesday afternoon at the Island School campus in Puhi.
“I’m very proud of the boys. They’re starting to find their stride, and like any team that’s newer and younger, they’re trying to find their chemistry,” said Island School head coach Sean Magoun. “You see the chemistry is starting to come together, and they’re starting to put pieces together on the field.”
After going into halftime with a scoreless tie, Voyagers freshman Carlos Lang scored the go-ahead goal at the 58th minute.
“One of (Kauai’s) defenders was possessing the ball, and I was pressuring. I read one of his movements, and I kind of snagged the ball away and just put it on the far end post,” Lang said of the score.
Lang added about the win: “I think what we did well today was keep our composure through the heat and through the moments. I believe we successfully passed the ball around and just won as a team.”
Island School (2-2-3 KIF, nine points) doubled its lead minutes after when Alae Miike scored.
“Persistence. The game is 80 minutes long. It’s just a game of persistence,” Magoun said of the team’s second-half breakthrough. “Do you go after every opportunity? Do you try for every ball? Do you look for any opening to take a shot?”
Island School also defeated Waimea High School over the weekend, 4-0.
“Again, I really bring it back to the boys finding chemistry amongst themselves,” Magoun said. “They’re feeling settled and confident in each other. That goes a long way. So, credit is to the boys just settling in and ready for the turn of the corner of the season. We’re past the halfway point. Now, we’re ready to rally. It might a little too late, but we’ll see. We’ll take it one game at a time.”
Kauai (2-3-2 KIF, eight points) got its best scoring chance at the 45th minute when the Red Raiders were awarded a corner kick.
Kaimana Bessert served the ball into the box, and Logan Noice headed the ball toward goal. Noice’s shot attempt, though, was saved on a diving effort by Voyagers goalkeeper Kaimana Moraes.
“You win some and you lose some. I think overall, the game went well,” said Kauai head coach Guga Tosi. “We were switching. We were passing. We were playing two different formations. I was actually very happy. They were playing really well.”
Tosi added errors on his team’s part helped Island School score the goals in the second half.
“Unfortunately, we made a couple of grave mistakes, and they (Island School) were good enough to capitalize on them,” Tosi said. “It’s the game of soccer. Sometimes, they can capitalize a mistake well and score a goal, or they can not capitalize well and give us a chance to keep on going. In our case, we made two mistakes on the defending side, and they capitalized on it.
“If I were to judge the game based on those two mistakes and the score, I wouldn’t be a coach, I don’t think. We can learn from these mistakes and grow from that. We can make it better. I think overall, they played well. There’s learning experiences for these kids to take on and keep on fighting tomorrow.”
Kauai’s Kyle Bissara and Connor Mackenzie were each issued yellow cards during Wednesday’s match.
On Wednesday evening, Kapaa and Waimea high schools’ varsity girls teams and varsity boys teams played at Vidinha Stadium. Results of those matches were not available by press time.
Island School will next play against Kapaa at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Vidinha Stadium. Kauai will host Waimea at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Vidinha Stadium.
Scoring summary
Island School: Carlos Lang (58’), Alae Miike (60’)
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Nick Celario, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
