Waimea High School may have won just one game yesterday but the Menehune defense definitely had an impact on the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation soccer games against Kaua‘i High School. Kaua‘i girls had no problems with their matches, the junior varsity
Waimea High School may have won just one game yesterday but the Menehune defense definitely had an impact on the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation soccer games against Kaua‘i High School.
Kaua‘i girls had no problems with their matches, the junior varsity Raiders chalking up an 8-0 win over Waimea while the varsity Raider ladies finished with a 7-0 shutout over Waimea.
But the stories center around the men as Waimea edged out the JV Raiders 1-0, and the Menehune defense was on the verge of a 0-0 stalemate before tripping to a 1-0 loss.
Cody Nishek was the Raider spoiler for the Menehune as his goal gave the JV Menehune reason to celebrate.
Waylan Silva and Jordan Sato did some position changes, and that was key to Waimea’s defensive edge yesterday as Silva boomed away numerous drives and shots-on-goal throughout the contest.
However, after successfully holding the Raider men to a 0-0 stalemate for most of the contest, a glitch in the defense gave Kaua‘i the edge as Seth Quisel jumped on the opening for the only score that came about 22 minutes into the second half.
But the Menehune defense was yet to be tested as Kaua‘i unleashed its offensive firepower following that goal, only to be held back by the Silva and Sato combination when Quisel was joined by Keala Lovell, Josiah Motosue and Canon Bernard in an explosive show of force that was held at bay.
For the Menehune that was able to penetrate midfield, Travis Schoniwitz was everywhere as the sweeper, holding Raider goalkeeper Colson Fernandez to just single-digit save attempts while booming out the Waimea threats.
Jaezelle Balilea and Brandi Gomes both finished with hat tricks in the Raiders’ varsity 7-0 win that got help from a first-half goal from Ashlyn Ubongen.
Brianne Hornos and Lisa Tangalin, netting a goal apiece in the first and second half, paced the JV Raider ladies in its 8-0 showing.
Joining Tangalin, Malia Kagawa, Teal Basquez, Audrey Lang and Kelsey Cadiente gave Kaua‘i a 5-0 halftime lead en route to its victory.
Hornos netted her two goals in the second half along with Tangalin’s second goal rounding out the math.
Waimea will host Kapa‘a in the next KIF games Wednesday at Hanapepe Stadium. The girls kick off at 4 p.m. with the boys following at 6 p.m.
