LIHU‘E — Kapa‘a’s Rachel Hinkel got the best of Kaua‘i’s Kawehi Louis-Diamond early, but the Kaua‘i keeper spent the rest of the game making sure she got revenge. After Hinkel’s goal in the fifth minute gave the Warriors a 1-0
LIHU‘E — Kapa‘a’s Rachel Hinkel got the best of Kaua‘i’s Kawehi Louis-Diamond early, but the Kaua‘i keeper spent the rest of the game making sure she got revenge.
After Hinkel’s goal in the fifth minute gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead, the Red Raiders stormed back with three unanswered goals to give Kaua‘i a 3-2 win over Kapa‘a Saturday afternoon at Vidinha Stadium.
“I thought both teams played really tough today,” Kaua‘i head coach Reiko Yoshida said. “When it comes down to it, this is a rivalry game. You can’t take rivalries for granted. Kapa‘a is a strong team. We looked good though.”
The Red Raider win was cemented by Louis-Diamond’s stellar play in the net. In the second half, with the Red Raiders leading, the dangerous Hinkel had several opportunities to pull the Warriors close. In the 55th minute, a ball shot up field toward the Red Raiders net, landing in between Hinkel and Louis-Diamond. The Red Raider keeper abandoned her net and sprinted out to the ball, pouncing on it just before Hinkel’s foot.
When making the decision to come out of the net and pursue the ball, Louis-Diamond said there isn’t much time to think.
“Once you commit you got to go,” Louis-Diamond said. “I have a problem of hesitating but I’m trying to cut the habit. I think I did a pretty good job of not hesitating today.”
The Kaua‘i offense, which looked hesitant to start the game, found its footing in the 27th minute when an Alyssa Vegas penalty kick found the back of the net. The Red Raiders found mesh again in the 35th minute when Marissa Ruiz put a header past Kapa‘a keeper Shelby Cocke.
Jannin Hashizume redirected a Tyra Tandal free kick into the net in the 50th minute for the Raiders’ third consecutive goal, giving Kaua‘i a 3-1 lead.
The Warriors were able to claw back to within a goal in the 60th minute. In a similar situation to Hinkel’s, Riemer found herself in a foot race to the ball with Louis-Diamond. This time the Kapa‘a forward won, as Riemer rocketed the ball past a diving Louis-Diamond and into the net to make the score 3-2.
But from there on, the Kaua‘i keeper became a wall. Louis-Diamond denied Hinkel with a jumping save on a free-kick in the 67th minute and again in the 70th when a hard shot from Hinkel targeted the top-left corner of the net, only to end up in Louis-Diamond’s hands.
After watching the Warriors play against the Menehune on Wednesday, Louis-Diamond said she came into the game focusing on taking away Kapa‘a’s shots from wide angles.
“I look at the whole field and focus on who’s on the outside,” she said. “When they pass to the outside I try to cut off the angle.”
The Warriors looked strong at the start, especially after Kekai Gonsalves threaded a crossing pass to Hinkel, who slid the ball past Louis-Diamond to give the Warriors the early lead. But with several Kapa‘a players banged up and sick, the Warriors weren’t able to keep up with the Raiders.
“We tried our best but it just wasn’t working for us today,” Minei said. “We’ll just have to go back to the drawing board.”
In JV action, the Warriors used a first half goal from Megan Devin to edge the Red Raiders, 1-0.
