LIHU‘E — Josh Spencer scored a goal in the 60th minute to ice a 4-0 win for the Hanalei Warriors in a Boys 12 Under soccer match played at the North Vidinha fields, Tuesday. A similar match was being played
LIHU‘E — Josh Spencer scored a goal in the 60th minute to ice a 4-0 win for the Hanalei Warriors in a Boys 12 Under soccer match played at the North Vidinha fields, Tuesday.
A similar match was being played at the Weinberg Sports Complex in Wailua featuring the top seeded American Youth Soccer Organization, Region 941 B12U team and the No. 2 seed Region 940 team during the second day of the Will Veeck soccer tournament.
That game was originally scheduled to play inside the Vidinha Stadium, but relocated to Wailua. No score for that contest was available.
Michael Dewitt netted two goals and Kyle Leibow added a goal to complete the win for the Hanalei Warriors who will advance to the championship game, Thursday at the Vidinha Stadium complex.
The Green Hornets, playing tough after clinching the Region 940 championship in a playoff after going winless through the season, said Dawn Peterson in an e-mail.
With the win, the Hanalei Warriors from Region 941 advance to meet the winner of the game played in Wailua on Thursday starting at 4:30 p.m. at the North Vidinha A field.
Concheta Ijima, the coach for the Lihu‘e Jets, played the game like it was the championship in a Girls 14 Under match against the Hanalei Oompa Loompa.
“The last time we played them, we lost,” Ijima said following the game. “They are a tough team.”
Solid defense dominated that game with the purple-shirted Jets being able to slip through for a 3-0 win.
Kaylee Balbarino, Danielle Allianic and Sariah Ijima each netted a goal for the Jets to advance to the G14U championship, also scheduled for 4:30 p.m., Thursday on North Vidinha B field.
The Jets will meet up with the Wailua Dynamites, a 3-1 winner over the Lihu‘e Dynamites, Monday in Wailua.
Will Veeck
opening day action
LIHU‘E — Natalie Devin broke a defensive slugfest for a goal late in the first half, Monday.
Devin, playing for the Kilalei Girls 12 Under team, found the net from the rightside to give Kilauea a 1-0 lead in one of three games that opened the Will Veeck soccer tournament.
But less than five minutes into the second half, Judy Ann Edurise charged up the rightside, wind at her back, to fire past the goalkeeper, the Kilalei defender chasing down the ball into the net.
Tied at 1-1, Edurise netted her second goal for the go-ahead, and late in the game, Adrianne Graycochea iced the 3-1 Lihue win as the sun lit the low-hanging clouds in shades of crimson.
“Our goal was to get two Lihu‘e teams into the Will Veeck,” said one of the coaches of the Lihu‘e Blue Bunnies who came out of its match against the Bang Bang Bullets with a 3-0 showing. “We didn’t have to win, but we just wanted two Lihu‘e teams in the tournament.”
During the American Youth Soccer Organization, Region 940 Girls 12 Under championships last week, the Blue Bunnies earned the top seed from Region 940, tangling with the Region 941 No. 2 seed, the Bang Bang Bullets.
Drew Vera Cruz finished the match with two goals and Ayzlin Kealoha-Albarado, petite against the Bang Bang Bullet midfielder, iced the win with a late-game goal.
“I worked with her in the goal,” said Mark Sassone, head official of that game. “She had a spectacular save in the first half where she took it in the face right off the Lihu‘e shoe and went down. Wow! That kind of play makes me proud.”
Sassone said the Bang Bang Bullets didn’t have that many chances for shots, but its defense did a good job of keeping the Blue Bunnies out of range as well.
Concheta Ijima, coach of the Region 940’s No. 1 Girls 14 Under team, said the game between the No. 2 G14U team, the Lihu‘e Dynamites, also ended in a 3-1 score, Lihu‘e dropping a 1-0 halftime lead to the Region 941 top seeded team at the Weinberg Sports Complex in Wailua.
“We thought we would get in some time watching that game,” Ijima said. “But they changed the game at the last minute so we’ll just work on our match.”
With the results of the Monday match, Lihu‘e and the Blue Bunnies face off for the division championship, Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at Vidinha Stadium.
Two other games are scheduled for the same time slot as the Under 14 Boys play, the top seed of Region 940 going up against the No. 2 team from Region 941, and the No. 2 team from Region 940 meeting the top seed from Region 941 at the North Vidinha fields.
Championships for the Under 12 Boys, the Under 14 Girls and the Under 14 Boys will take place Thursday starting at 4 p.m.
