KALAHEO — Isaac Fierro, Micah Quinlan and Kaina Dusenberry notched hat tricks as the Boogie Nation advanced to a spot in the regional finals, Monday afternoon. Playing in cool sprinkles at the Kalawai Park, the Boogie Nation, undefeated in the
KALAHEO — Isaac Fierro, Micah Quinlan and Kaina Dusenberry notched hat tricks as the Boogie Nation advanced to a spot in the regional finals, Monday afternoon.
Playing in cool sprinkles at the Kalawai Park, the Boogie Nation, undefeated in the American Youth Soccer Organization, Region 940 Under 14 Boys’ season, finished with a 12-1 win over the Iron Men coached by Francis Takasaki.
“The boys did it all,” said Roger Taniguchi, coach for the Boogie Nation. “They decided at the start that they wanted to go undefeated and they’ve stayed on track. Right now, it looks like we’re the undefeated team in the division.”
Mark Watten drew first blood for the Iron Men, but Boogie Nation answered with four goals for the 4-1 halftime bulge.
With no fresh legs on its bench and one player nursing a mangled toe, the Iron Men played defense through most of the contest as the purple-shirted Boogie Nation peppered the net with shots.
“The purple shirts are out-shooting the green,” said Marina Octavio who stopped her young players’ practice to have them learn by watching the older players on the field.
Wyatt Taniguchi, the big midfielder for Boogie Nation, finished with a first-half goal with Dusenberry, Quinlan and Fierro adding a first-half goal each.
Teamwork was the theme of play for Boogie Nation as in addition to the hat trick, Quinlan had at least two assists, feeding Dusenberry from the wing for the team goals.
Taniguchi, in addition to moving the ball in the front court and stopping the ball at midfield, also had an assist, feeding James Pugmire for Pugmire’s first goal of the game in the third quarter.
Pugmire, in turn, had an assist, moving the ball to Dusenberry late in the third quarter.
“The boys played excellent out there,” Roger said. “They passed well, talked a lot, and just handled the ball well.”
“They were determined to meet their Region 941 counterparts at the start of the season, so all I told them was to practice hard and play hard.”
In addition to the hat tricks, Boogie Nation got two goals from Pugmire and one from Wyatt in the win.
The loss gives the Iron Men its first post-season win and moves them to meet Kalaheo (Beeksma) in a Wednesday elimination game starting at 4:30 p.m. at the North Vidinha field.
The winner of that match will advance to meet the Boogie Nation in the U14B finals at Hanapepe Stadium on Oct. 28.
