Girls: Kapa‘a 5, Waimea 0 Boys: Kapa‘a 0, Waimea 0 HANAPEPE — Kapa‘a’s Megan Souza scored two goals and Waimea’s first-year goalkeeper Cody Owens was drawing cheer from the audience as Kapa‘a split the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation soccer opener last
Girls: Kapa‘a 5, Waimea 0
Boys: Kapa‘a 0, Waimea 0
HANAPEPE — Kapa‘a’s Megan Souza scored two goals and Waimea’s first-year goalkeeper Cody Owens was drawing cheer from the audience as Kapa‘a split the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation soccer opener last night at the Hanapepe Stadium.
Souza had a goal in both halves to lead the Warrior ladies to a 5-0 win over the Menehune, and the Menehune men stymied the Kapaa boys’ offense throughout the night as Owens’ saves kept Waimea and Kapa‘a to a 0-0 stalemate at the end of regulation play.
With the split, Kapa‘a gets the bye this Saturday as Kaua‘i High School opens its season by hosting Waimea at Vidinha Stadium.
Kapa‘a girls took control of their matchup early and in beating Waimea to the ball, was able to open up the scoring as midfielder Larissa Crain scored on a shot up the middle that got past Waimea substitute goalkeeper Jazzlyn Bradbury.
Bradbury, normally the Menehune defender with the big foot, was hammered by the Warriors as Crain’s goal that came in the 6th minute was followed by Megan Souza notching the first of two goals from the wing in the 17th minute.
Sierra Mayer followed on a breakaway play on the right wing, and after beating out the Menehune defender, shot at will for the 3-0 lead in the 18th minute.
Kapa‘a final goal in the first half came when Sonya Tupou collided with Bradbury at the goalmouth and Kapa‘a netting the goal in the traffic.
Souza scored her second goal late in the game as Waimea adjusted its forces to replace Bradbury with Jayme Jacinto in the goal and Bradbury playing stopper to keep Kapa‘a at bay until late in the half when Souza netted her second goal.
Similarly, Crain, drawing first blood for Kapa‘a, was rotated throughout the field, finishing as one of three key defenders along with Chauncie Garcia-Brown and Kyla Dill to keep the ball away.
Waimea boys’ coach Ken Morikawa was joined by alumni players Kelsey and Colin Morikawa and Curtis Kimura in keeping the Menehune boys atop the Warriors throughout the game.
“I am really proud of all the boys right now,” Ken said immediately following the game. “First-year goalie Cody Owens did an outstanding job out there, and all the boys played well.”
Kapa‘a, sparked by the efforts of Ikaika Fuerte, Tyler Cram and Caleb Sarsona, moved the ball well, but could not close the door against the Menehune defense headed up by Sean Inouye, Jordan Kitabayashi and Quinn Gonsalves.
Joseph Velasco’s boot was the key to the Kapa‘a defense.
