Max Goode, Torren Kimura, Cole Pemberton, Hunter Rice-Hudson, Kanoa Nartatez, Taylor Langstaff, Calvin Rux and Lowen Gonzales are graduates of Kapa‘a High School. But more than that, these were men on the Kapa‘a High School boys soccer team which finished
Max Goode, Torren Kimura, Cole Pemberton, Hunter Rice-Hudson, Kanoa Nartatez, Taylor Langstaff, Calvin Rux and Lowen Gonzales are graduates of Kapa‘a High School.
But more than that, these were men on the Kapa‘a High School boys soccer team which finished second during the Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association boys state championship.
“Coming in second place at the HHSAA state soccer tournament was not enough,” said Gary Hudson who, along with Curtis Langstaff, extended their coaching season to coach this Motiv-8 Under 18 boys team. “They wanted one more tournament, the Hawai‘i Youth Soccer Association State Championships and an opportunity to end their high school and club soccer careers as champions before moving on to college.”
The boys did just that over the Memorial Day weekend, joining another Kaua‘i team, the Kaua‘i Bull Boys Under 12 coached by Christian Marston and Suzy Lee, on O‘ahu in quest of a championship.
Motiv-8, a team most of the Kapa‘a boys played on since the program started 10 years ago, became the banner for the boys’ final outing.
Hudson said entering the final day of the tournament, Motiv-8 was in a statistical tie with Crush 93B Nalu of O‘ahu, a team which gave Motiv-8 its only tie, a 2-2 deadlock, during the tournament.
Crush was the only team to score against Motiv-8 in the tournament, due to the work of Motiv-8 goalkeepers Goode and Rice-Hudson who kept the net clear, other than the two Crush goals.
Coach Hudson said the only way to ensure a championship for Motiv-8 was to play the perfect game — a shutout victory and score at least four goals.
“The boys were bruised and battered and had only two subs,” Hudson said in an email. “But Team Motiv-8 mustered the teamwork, determination and sheer guts to seal the deal against a very talented and well-coached Ka‘Oi SC Strikers team.”
Motiv-8 won the match, and the championship, with a 4-0 shutout.
For Langstaff and Hudson, the road to the HYSA tournament was an extension of the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation season won by the Kapa‘a boys.
“The boys recruited three of their most admired high school rivals to join the team,” Hudson said. “Josh Quinlan from Waimea High School, whom the boys had battled against at the club and high school level for years.”
Mason Vegas of Kaua‘i High School was another long-time foe and whose speed and skill always made him a worthy opponent, Hudson said.
Logan Domingo, a part of Motiv-8 teams in the past, joined the group from Island School.
In addition to the high school players, Tiloi Alapa of Kamehameha Schools and Zaimana Fernandez, spending his senior year with Hawai‘i Team Challenge, completed the roster.
“All schools were represented,” Hudson said. “These were all Kaua‘i boys.”
With the team assembled, the coaches collaborated on practice time and shoe-horned gatherings between the volleyball and track season as well as preparations for graduation parties. All the while, the players assured the coaches they would give it a good run.
“True to their word, they not only ‘gave it a good run,’ they returned to Kaua‘i as the Hawai‘i State Champions,” Hudson said. “They are the only team from Kaua‘i to have ever done so, and they did it in dramatic fashion.”
Following its 4-0 win for the title, Team Motiv-8 finished with a 3-0-1 record. Kimura netted two goals, while Gonzales and Domingo each added one in the shutout title victory.
During the tournament, Gonzales, who scored five goals, earned the team Most Valuable Player award for being the leading goal scorer in the tournament.
Domingo finished with three goals, Kimura had two and Quinlan and Rux each ended with a goal.
“With just two subs, many of the boys were called on to play almost every position on the field and in several different formations throughout the tournament,” Hudson said. “This was a testament to their soccer knowledge and willingness to do whatever it took to win the championship, winning the tournament by just one slim point. Hats off to the boys of Team Motiv-8, you are Boys Under 18 Hawai‘i State Champions.”
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
