• Menehune, Red Raiders start state conquests today Menehune, Red Raiders start state conquests today By Duane Shimogawa Jr. – The Garden Island The KIF champion Waimea High School boys soccer squad and the KIF champion Kaua‘i High School softball
• Menehune, Red Raiders start state conquests today
Menehune, Red Raiders start state conquests today
By Duane Shimogawa Jr. – The Garden Island
The KIF champion Waimea High School boys soccer squad and the KIF champion Kaua‘i High School softball team will start off their state tournament games today.
The Menehune and head coach Mark Kennett, who finished the season undefeated at 5-0-2 have a tough road to the top in the Meadow Gold Dairies Boys Soccer Championships. Despite having a great season and displaying amazing performances, Waimea was unable to garner one of the top four seeds.
Instead the Menehune will have to play on day one, but for Kaua‘i teams, it’s not a shocker to get the back seat spot. All four seeds come from each of the other leagues, the OIA (Mililani, number one seed), the ILH (Iolani, number two seed), the MIL (King Kekaulike, number three seed), and the BIIF (Hawai‘i Prep, number four seed).
The Menehune, the only league champion to get left off the seedings list, challenge the OIA’s fourth seed, Kaiser at 1 p.m. on the grounds of the Kamehameha Schools on Maui. The Cougars boast an 8-3-3 record. If the Menehune win, they will face off against the number-one seeded team in the tournament, OIA powerhouse, Mililani on Thursday at 3 p.m.
But if Waimea falls to the Cougars, they will play earlier in the day on Thursday at 11 a.m., against the loser of the Kamehameha-O‘ahu/Kapolei match. Led by KIF goal scoring champion, Chad “Mighty Mouse” Thompson (5 goals), the Menehune are a tough team to deal with and if Kaiser takes them lightly, they will be up for a rude awakening today.
Thompson is one of the state’s best scorers. He has a knack for the goal and is always around the ball. Also leading the Menehune charge is Jeffrey Kakuda, who was tied for second in the KIF goal scoring race with Kapa‘a’s Micah Ohlen and Masai Bell. David Honma and Scott Martin compliment the legs of Thompson and Kakuda, but what makes the Menehune special is their defensive prowess.
Kollin Morikawa and Joseph Mecham are human back-boards. Nothing gets past the two and if the Menehune are to make a run at the state title, it will be because of the M&M’s.
Goalie Justin Estes is a tough netminder and will be tested against the Cougars.
Coach Kennett is assisted by David Mecham, David Walker, and Peter Sit. Mililani is going after its fifth state boys soccer crown in a row. No KIF boys soccer team has ever won the a state title.
The Red Raider girls capped off an impressive season with a 10-1 mark. Kaua‘i is led by senior pitcher Sherri Gebauer, who at times, looked unstoppable on the mound in the KIF.
From top to bottom, Kaua‘i can hit with the best of them. At the plate, the ladies in red are led by Ulu Kelekoma, A.J. Silva, Ashley Nonaka, Shana Tafiti, be the key and Gebauer will be helped out by Darcie “The Bull-dog” Allianic.
The four other league champions make up the seeded teams with Punahou at number one, Kapolei at number two, Baldwin at number three, and Waiakea at number four. The Red Raiders challenge the OIA’s fifth seed, Kaimuki, today at 3 p.m. The Bulldogs finished the season at 8-8.
If Kaua‘i wins, they will challenge number-two seeded Kapolei on Thursday at 5 p.m. But if the Red Raiders lose, they will face the loser of the Hilo/Pearl City game on Thursday at 11 a.m. Kaua‘i is coached by Jacque Inouye, Darrell Borrero, and Katherine Medeiros.
The Red Raiders will try to accomplish what head coach Albert Soto and his state champion Menehune squad did back in 1990.
