Wailua claims coed title in shootout

KAPA‘A — A shootout leading to a 2-1 Wailua win clinched the coed league championship for the greenshirts Tuesday night at the New Kapa‘a Ball Park.

Matt Victor’s late-game goal for Wailua capped a night-long effort by the greenshirts to get past a strong Cool Runnings defensive effort.

With about ten minutes remaining in regulation play, Victor and the Cool Runnings’ goalie battled for supremacy outside the left corner of the goalmouth.

Victor bested the goalie, the shot-on-goal squirreled along the outside before settling in the net folds.

But, Cool Runnings did not just let the goal go as the battle between the Wailua forward and goalie ensued, Cool Running’s Lorna Basquez, whose second-half defensive tactics thwarted numerous Wailua drives, chased down the loose ball only to lose the chase as she closed the gap just as the ball crossed the plane.

That goal proved pivotal for Wailua who throughout the night tried to compensate for a Cool Runnings goal by Oly Rivera in the first minute of play.

Despite an attempt to shift into offense by Cool Runnings, the Wailua defense adjusted to the shift to hold the game to a 1-1 deadlock at the end of regulation play.

A scoreless “Golden Goal” overtime period forced a shootout which was handily won by the Wailua feet for the coed league championship.

Excellent soccer play on both offense and defense prevailed in the cool Kapa‘a evening as both sides tried several tactics to best their opponents.

At the goalmouth, both goalies did a great job stopping the shot-on-goal attempts that peppered the box, the Cool Runnings goalie taking a lot of physical contact as Wailua midfielder Kevin Cram tried to push the ball past the final obstacle.

Throughout the night, it was catchup for Wailua, the effort finally getting over the top in the shootout.