KAPA‘A — In a day of missed opportunities, Kapa‘a finished with a loss and a tie yesterday. Kapa‘a’s boys could not overcome the tenacious Raider defense as it dropped 2-1 to Kaua‘i, and despite a late-game shot attempt by Ashlen
KAPA‘A — In a day of missed opportunities, Kapa‘a finished with a loss and a tie yesterday.
Kapa‘a’s boys could not overcome the tenacious Raider defense as it dropped 2-1 to Kaua‘i, and despite a late-game shot attempt by Ashlen Ubongen, the Raider ladies battled Kapa‘a to a 0-0 stalemate.
Kaua‘i boys struck first as Seth Quisel scored in the 11th minute of play. Kapa‘a goalkeeper Parker Blaylock came out of the box to defend in heavy traffic, and in the confusion, Quisel’s foot sent the ball past Blaylock and Kapa‘a defenders to the right pocket.
A defensive slugfest ensued as Kapa‘a tried to regroup.
But Kaua‘i’s defense rose to the occasion as they shut down Kapa‘a forward Chance Bukoski and Warrior middle Ikaika Fuerte, the defensive pressure sending Bukoski’s shot attempts out of range more than once.
Frustrated by the heavy defense, Bukoski settled on the next best thing as he sent the ball to the wing where Ian Lactaotao was waiting, and the resulting play netted a 1-1 halftime tie as Lactaotao found the goal with less than three minutes left in the half.
The Raider defensive pressure continued into the second half and, in heavy traffic, Josiah Motosue beat out the Warrior defender to net Kaua‘i’s second score on a follow-through play.
Blaylock tipped the original shot attempt in front of the goalmouth to send the ball off to the leftside where traffic was waiting. In the scuffle, Blaylock tried to recover, but Motosue beat out the Kapa‘a defender to net the score at the 25-minute mark of the second half.
Jocelyn Enrique played the whole field as both the Warrior and Raider ladies tried to break into the scorebooks.
Enrique started out as defender, but after Kaua‘i forward got several shot-on-goal attempts against Kapa‘a goalkeeper Maegan Pablo, the big defender was moved up front.
But Kaua‘i defender Tiffany Ikeda-Simao kept Enrique in check and despite several efforts by Enrique and Dakota Barnett, Kapa‘a could not close the door.
When Enrique moved up front, Lauren Esaki took over the defender burden, and on one play in the first half, sparked a full-field breakaway only to lose the ball in the left corner.
That prompted fans to vocally suggest that she be moved to forward, but she remained as a solid defender.
Kaua‘i got strong offensive showing from Kylie Taniguchi who worked against the altering Warrior defense in getting the ball to Ubongen, and in the final minutes, Ubongen broke out and fired.
But that shot clanged off the goalpost and the clock wound down on a 0-0 tie.
Kaua‘i High School’s varsity teams will be hosting Waimea on Wednesday at Vidinha Stadium with the first game starting at 4 p.m. The second game is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
