The Kapa‘a High School boys became the first Neighbor Island team in prep history to win a boys soccer state title when they defeated No. 2 Hawai‘i Prep Academy 3-1 in the JN Automotive/Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association’s Boys State
The Kapa‘a High School boys became the first Neighbor Island team in prep history to win a boys soccer state title when they defeated No. 2 Hawai‘i Prep Academy 3-1 in the JN Automotive/Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association’s Boys State Division II championship final on Saturday at the Waip‘io Soccer Complex.
“We knew that was the case going in and we knew that one of us was going to get that distinction,” said Kapa‘a head coach Kevin Cram. “I’m glad it was us.”
The Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation champions from the Eastside, who went through the regular season undefeated, swept through its state tournament opponents to win Kapa‘a’s first ever state soccer title.
Kapa‘a made it into the Division II state finals last year — the first year of the division split. Kapa‘a’s girls played in their second state final in 10 years just a week prior.
Cram said that heading into the tournament, he knew that with the group of guys that he had, that Kapa‘a would be a big contender. It also helped that the Warriors had an extra motivating factor.
“After the second-place finish last year, we knew we had to do better in this (final),” Cram said.
The Big Island’s Hawai‘i Prep (13-4-0) got on the boards first when Tyler Tsuboto scored on a quick transition play early in the game. But KIF leading scorer Ikaika Fuerte took a free kick and sent it straight through the wall and into the net to tie the game.
Caleb Sarsona scored off a breakaway to give Kapa‘a (10-0-1) the lead heading into the half. Fuerte got his second goal of the night — and fourth of the tournament — off an assist from Sarsona.
Sarsona finished the tournament with three goals and said that after two straight days of heavy competition, he was ready for the big one.
“I was relaxed,” Sarsona said. “I had a lot of breakaways in the other games and they always gave me butterflies, like I had to do good. But I had a lot of breakaways in this game and I wasn’t nervous.”
At the same time, though, Sarsona knew that facing Hawai‘i Prep wouldn’t be easy.
“I felt like I had to step it up for this,” he said. “It feels awesome that we did it. We’re so relieved we did it. We just beat a really good team. This is a great way to end my senior year.”
Fuerte is also a senior and played a big role in last year’s runner-up finish and following Saturday’s win, he was at a loss for words.
“It feels great, I don’t even know what to say right now,” he said. “This was a really important game. It was the biggest game because it was the final.”
Fuerte said that beating Hawai‘i Prep was the only acceptable ending for him.
“I don’t even know what second place is right now,” he said. “I wasn’t going to take home second place this time. Second place was not an option. No way.”
This is the second overall state title for Kapa‘a. The Warriors won their first title when they won the first ever Division II Boys Volleyball title in 2005.
As the No. 4 seed in this year’s tournament, the Warriors received the first-round bye, then went on to beat Kailua in the quarterfinal round 3-0. The knocked off top-seeded Seabury Hall after a 3-2 penalty shootout.
Kapa‘a places six on All-Tournament team
Joseph Velasco was named to the state All-Tournament team for the second year in a row and Kapa‘a placed five others. Caleb Sarsona, Kaisen Carrillo and Tyler Cram were named to the team for the first time.
Christian Taniguchi was named the All-Tournament goalkeeper and Ikaika Fuerte was named the Most Outstanding Player.
