HANAPEPE — Billy DeCosta called him a general, Tuesday night at Hanapepe Stadium. That term fit Jarred Okayama who put the game away for the Kalaheo Galaxy in the third quarter with back-to-back goals at the American Youth Soccer Organization,
HANAPEPE — Billy DeCosta called him a general, Tuesday night at Hanapepe Stadium.
That term fit Jarred Okayama who put the game away for the Kalaheo Galaxy in the third quarter with back-to-back goals at the American Youth Soccer Organization, Region 940 regional championships.
The Galaxy won the Under 12 boys title with a 5-1 win over the Hanapepe Spartans.
Micah Quinlan fired four goals to lead the Boogie Nation to a 6-2 win over Kalaheo Beeksma for the Under 14 boys championship in the second game of the night.
Okayama engineered his first goal on a high kick that soared high above the outstretched arms of Hanapepe Spartans’ goalkeeper Drake Kaohelauli‘i to give the Galaxy a 3-1 lead early in the third quarter. Capitalizing on ball exchanges, Okayama broke away and came up the middle for his second game that put the game away 4-1.
Conor Turly, who played a strong goalkeeper for the Galaxy in the second period with strong kicks, iced the victory by firing against the defense of Hanapepe goalie Riley Saiki for the win.
Devon Hartsell had the sole goal for Hanapepe in the opening half with Justin Garma, playing sweeper in the second half, and Tyler Elwin netting Galaxy goals in the first half.
B.J. Fritas drew first blood for the Kalaheo Beeksma in the first five minutes of play, their bright brown shirts leading one spectator to label them the Dirt Balls.
The Boogie Nation heard the cries from the stand and woke up.
The combination of Isaac Fierro and Micah Quinlan lit up the scoreboards for Waimea as Quinlan answered Fritas’ goal on an assist from Fierro who brought the ball up the middle and passed off to Quinlan on the rightside.
The roles reversed in the second quarter as Fierro got the assist from Quinlan who moved the ball through traffic to Fierro in the middle.
Two more Quinlan goals in the period gave him a hat trick at the half as the Boogie Nation settled into a game of ball control, relying on Wyatt Taniguchi’s strong leg at sweeper to keep the ball away from the goal.
On the wing, another battle was being waged as Kaina Dusenberry, one of the smaller Boogie Nation players, kept feeding the middle. He also took his turns at shot-on-goal, and in the final play of the third period, connected with Quinlan who headed the ball past Kalaheo goalie Jonah Malapit.
But Dusenberry persisted and in the final period, ran against Kalaheo goalkeeper Ben Smith and nailed his elusive goal.
With the wins, the Galaxy and Boogie Nation receive the trophy and medals for the AYSO, Region 940 U14 boys in their age divisions.
William Trugillo and Jane Garma announced that both the first- and second- place teams in both age divisions will be in action next week against their counterparts from the AYSO, Region 941 when the Wil Veech soccer tournament starts at Vidinha Stadium.
