HANAPEPE — Waimea Under 12 and Kalaheo Under 14 girls forced rematches for tonight at Hanapepe Stadium. Solid defense by Real Waimea stymied the offensive efforts of the undefeated U12G Kaua‘i Stingers in a 6-1 win by Waimea to force
HANAPEPE — Waimea Under 12 and Kalaheo Under 14 girls forced rematches for tonight at Hanapepe Stadium.
Solid defense by Real Waimea stymied the offensive efforts of the undefeated U12G Kaua‘i Stingers in a 6-1 win by Waimea to force the first playoff in the American Youth Soccer Organization, Region 940 championships.
The lights going out at Hanapepe Stadium stoked the Kalaheo Lono team that captured a come-from-behind win, 4-3 in overtime to force a rematch against Team Onipa‘a in the U14G division.
Those rematches start at 4:30 p.m. for the U12G division with the U14G kicking off at 6 p.m.
“We made some adjustments in defense,” said Ethan Rohner, one of the Real Waimea coaches. “We built a wall back there and had Bailey San Agustin Nordmeier as the sweeper in the middle. That, plus drawing first blood, I think really helped us.”
That plan appeared to work for Real Waimea as they stopped the Stinger offense led by Kawai Calderon.
Anchored by Melia Okura and Brandy Domingo’s big leg, the ball went to Nordmeier who broke the ice seven minutes into the contest on an assist to Bailey Kanehakalau.
The Stingers adjusted, but Calderon’s drives were frustrated by the greenshirt defense, first by Jewel Pugmire on a solo effort, then by Okura and Domingo in a tandem effort.
Kanehakalau notched the second of her game-total four goals on a kick resulting from a Stinger handball at the 12-minute mark leading the Stingers to switch Calderon to sweeper and moving Pili Chung to the forward position at the close of the first quarter.
But the Real Waimea defense held firm, keeping the Stinger long balls out of goal range, save for a close shot-on-goal attempt by Kaylee Balbarino that clanged off the goalpost.
Real Waimea continued to capitalize off its defensive pattern, adding a Shannin Correa goal from the left side for the 3-0 halftime lead.
Kanehakalau added two more goals in the second half and Rachel Semblante added another as the Real Waimea defense allowed just one goal when Sariah Ijima was able to capitalize on a missed defensive kick with just about a minute left in the game.
Kalaheo, coached by Lono Gardner, just couldn’t buy a goal in the first half despite several key scoring opportunities in the U14G game.
Kristen Kaohelaulii snuck in a goal from the right side for first blood at the 12-minute mark. That score stood for a 1-0 halftime Onipa‘a lead.
Despite strong Kalaheo defense from Mia Cabulisan and ball movement from Caitlyn Rapozo, the Kalaheo blueshirts continued to pepper the goal as Onipa‘a goalkeeper Wendi Tokurike did a superb job of keeping Kalaheo at bay.
A pair of second half goals from Tiara Teter kept Onipa‘a in control until the lights went out and Hanapepe Stadium was shrouded in darkness punctuated by the screams of children thrilled by the experience and dotted by the blue lights of numerous cell phones.
When the lights finally returned and play resumed, Nicole Gardner struck two quick goals to bring Kalaheo to a 3-2 deficit.
Despite several other attempts at scoring, Onipa‘a kept the blueshirts at bay until late in regulation when Emma Siaan netted a shot to the far pocket beyond an outstretched Tokurike for the 3-3 tie.
The clock continued to run and Rapozo had a chance to win on a penalty kick that went wide at the whistle to force the overtime.
Malu Vegas, a strong force for Kalaheo throughout the game, netted the go-ahead in the first six minutes of OT to force tonight’s rematch.
