KAPA‘A — The Kaua‘i High School girls needed a win or a tie to stay in the chase, yesterday. But that was not to be as Kapa‘a swept the opener of the second round of Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation soccer with
KAPA‘A — The Kaua‘i High School girls needed a win or a tie to stay in the chase, yesterday.
But that was not to be as Kapa‘a swept the opener of the second round of Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation soccer with a 2-1 win for the girls and a 2-0 shutout for the boys.
Ashlyn Ubongen did her part to give the Red Raider ladies a lead 10 minutes into the game, but a tenacious comeback by the Warriors denied the Raiders victory at the New Kapa‘a Town Park.
The Red Raiders took the opening ball on a mission deep inside Kapa‘a territory, and following several exchanges, Ubongen capped a nice Red Raider effort that started in midfield.
Melissa Iida, who despite her smaller size over the Warrior ladies she battled, got a pass off to the speedy forward. Ubongen fielded the pass and zipped past two Kapa‘a defenders to nail the opening goal which slapped off Kapa‘a goalkeeper Maeghan Pablo’s gloves and settled into the net.
More defensive exchanges in the mud ensued as Kapa‘a tried to stoke the offensive fires.
Christine Yotsuda erupted in jubilation at the 26-minute mark after she beat out both Kaua‘i stopper Tiffany Ikeda-Simao and goalkeeper Saryna Gacia who came out of the box on the save attempt. Yotsuda fielded a long booming kick from Kapa‘a stopper Jocelyn Enrique to set up the score that tied the contest 1-1 at the half.
With both teams making halftime adjustments, Kapa‘a iced the victory 10 minutes into the second half when Stephany Foster launched a long ball from the right wing that sailed over the outstretched arms of Garcia for the 2-1 Kapa‘a edge.
Although Kaua‘i tried to launch several attacks on the goal, the Kapa‘a defense held the Red Raiders through the rest of the game.
Kapa‘a boys got its win on two goals from Chance Bukoski, a redemption from the previous Warrior meeting with Kaua‘i when the Red Raider defense literally shut down the Warrior forward.
Waimea will make the trip to Vidinha Stadium as Kaua‘i hosts the Menehune, Saturday with the JV games starting at 10 a.m. The varsity matches start no earlier than 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
