Pac-Five’s girls soccer team won its second state title in three years after defeating Kapa‘a 1-0, (4-2 in penalty kicks) in the Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association Girls Division II State Championship at the Waipi‘o Soccer Complex. Pac-Five’s goalkeeper Geena
Pac-Five’s girls soccer team won its second state title in three years after defeating Kapa‘a 1-0, (4-2 in penalty kicks) in the Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association Girls Division II State Championship at the Waipi‘o Soccer Complex.
Pac-Five’s goalkeeper Geena Fong came up with a stop to put the Wolfpack up 2-1 in penalty kicks, then stepped up to the line and kicked the winning goal against Kapa‘a’s Kyah Schneider.
Deadlocked at 0-0 in regulation and after two overtimes, the teams were forced to decide who wins the title by penalty kicks. It was a scene somewhat familiar to Kapa‘a High School as the boys soccer team was in a similar situation at last year’s state final against Mid-Pac.
Pac-Five’s Cristine Tamamoto was up first for the Wolfpack and shot to the right of Schneider for the first goal. Then it was Kapa‘a’s Larissa Crain who tied it up at 1-1.
Kendal Kagawa took a shot in the same direction as Takamoto and banked it in for Pac-Five’s second goal.
Kapa‘a’s Kalia Mayer’s shot soared above the goal post, putting the Warriors at a disadvantage.
Schneider was able to come up with one stop, but couldn’t stop Chelsey Yoneda’s from going into the same corner as the previous two.
Takara Kunioka scored Kapa‘a’s other goal.
“It was frustrating (not being able to score in regulation,” said Kapa‘a head coach Colby Ayonon. “But the girls kept battling on the whole time, all the way up until the penalty kicks.”
Pac-Five (7-6-2), coached by Eddie Wong, was the first team to win a girls Division II title in 2007.
This was the second state final appearance for Kapa‘a (7-4-1) which lost to Punahou in 1998 before the division split. Kapa‘a went into this year’s tournament unranked, behind the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation champs from Kaua‘i High School. The Lady Warriors went on to win three straight, postseason games to earn its way into Saturday night’s championship.
No. 2 Kaua‘i 3, No. 1 Kailua 0
Kaua‘i’s girls came up with the third-place trophy for the second straight year in a row as the Lady Red Raiders beat the top-ranked Surfriders of Kailua High School, 3-0. It may not have been the exact trophy the No. 2 Lady Red Raiders (9-1-1) were hoping to take home from the championships, but according to Kaua‘i head coach Matt Victor, they’ll take it.
“We’re ending on a high note,” he said.
Victor, who was in his first year as the head coach of the Lady Red Raiders, led the team to a Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation title and its first undefeated season in at least three years.
After dropping its semifinal match to No. 3 Pac-Five, Kaua‘i was faced with playing a tough Kailua team in the third-place match.
“They tried to make it a pretty physical match, but we really just dominated over them,” he said. “We pretty much played on their side of the field.”
Kaua‘i outshot Kailua 25 to 1.
Kaua‘i was led by the team’s leading scorer Ashlyn Ubongen and senior Skye Shimabukuro.
KIF places 7 on All-Tournament team
After a successful run at this year’s state championships, both Kaua‘i and Kapa‘a’s girls soccer teams received recognition for their efforts.
The KIF placed seven girls on the HHSAA all-tournament team.
Kapa‘a placed five players on the team: Dakota Barnett, Kalia Mayer, Larissa Crain and Takara Kunioka. Kapa‘a’s goalkeeper Kyah Schneider made it as the outstanding keeper.
Kaua‘i placed two on the team: junior forward Ashlyn Ubongen and senior Skye Shimabukuro, who on Tuesday will sign her letter of intent to play Division I soccer for the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa.
