LIHU‘E — Kainalu Gandia netted four goals Sunday at the North Vidinha fields. That helped the Kapa‘a Warriors lock up an 8-3 win over the Hawaiian Heat in one of a handful of soccer games that marked the opening of
LIHU‘E — Kainalu Gandia netted four goals Sunday at the North Vidinha fields.
That helped the Kapa‘a Warriors lock up an 8-3 win over the Hawaiian Heat in one of a handful of soccer games that marked the opening of the Kaua‘i Soccer Association fall season.
Joining Gandia, Tanner Franklin, Bryson Miles and Jonah Stokes each netted a goal in the Warriors’ victory.
Kaylee Tamura chalked up two goals and Sara Koide added a score for the Hawaiian Heat.
“There are 18 teams in the league,” said Kevin Devitt, commissioner for the KSA, and also coach for the GIFC teams.
“This is a little shorter than we would’ve liked, but the teams are strong and there should be good play.”
Teams range from Under 10 to Under 14 and play a seven-a-side format at the North Vidinha fields starting at noon on Sundays.
“This is a relatively short season since most of the games will be over by the end of October,” said Eric Fujimoto, a parent who had his daughter on the field watching her friends in action. “My daughter goes to Kamehameha Schools, and said there were games today. But she has to leave soon because she has to check back into the dorms by this evening.”
Fujimoto said coach Bobby Rapozo of Ha‘aheo Kaua‘i already has papers for his daughter should she decide she wants to play.
“I thought I was over this, since my girls are at Kamehameha, but I guess if she plays, I’ll be back on the fields,” he said.
Shane Takeuchi, Kody Gardner and Shayden Duldulao each netted a ball in the Westside Falcons’ 3-0 shutout over the KSC-Blazing Angels in an Under 10 matchup.
“These are relatively new players, but those girls (Blazing Angels) play well,” said Devitt, who was coaching on the opposite field. “They’re aggressive and play hard on the ball. They’ll get some wins.”
Devitt’s GIFC boys, on the other hand, fell victim to Lokahi, 4-0 behind a pair of goals each from Aleigha “Red” Scovel and Shyla Taniguchi-Simbre.
“My boy wanted to play, but we don’t have enough Westside Falcons for a U14 team, so he and a couple of Falcons are playing for GIFC,” said Jane Garma, a team parent of the Westside Falcon program. “I don’t know how he’s going to do since he’s playing out of his division, but we’ll see.”
That matchup featuring the tandem coaching of Devitt and Karl Ubongen was ready to take the field against the experienced KSC-Blazing Angels team that finished the summer league at the top of its age group.
Complete game scores and standings will appear in a future issue of TGI.
