LIHU‘E — Juanjo Jimenez didn’t wait long to score his first goal in America. Jimenez, a Rotary exchange student from Chile, scored in the second minute for Kaua‘i to give the Red Raiders a 1-0 win against the Waimea Menehune
LIHU‘E — Juanjo Jimenez didn’t wait long to score his first goal in America.
Jimenez, a Rotary exchange student from Chile, scored in the second minute for Kaua‘i to give the Red Raiders a 1-0 win against the Waimea Menehune Tuesday afternoon at Vidinha Stadium.
From the opening whistle, the Red Raiders used short, precise passes to move the ball up field against the Menehune. Just over two minutes into the game, the Raiders cleared the ball up into the Menehune zone. The deepest Waimea defender intercepted the pass, but fumbled it into the feet of Jimenez. With Waimea keeper Wyatt Taniguchi charging, Jimenez punched the ball into the net to score the only goal of the game.
“He brought a tremendous amount to this team,” Kaua‘i head coach Mark Brandeburg said.
Jimenez and the Raiders wouldn’t score again, but the team’s ability to hold the ball away from the Menehune secured the win.
Keeping the Menehune in the game was Taniguchi. The Waimea keeper faced a barrage of shots through-out the game and made several highlight-reel saves.
His best came against Kaua‘i’s Lucas Gushikuma. At the 10-minute marker Gushikuma found himself open up the middle and booted a missile directed for the top right corner of the Menehune net. Just as the score was about to click to 2-0, Taniguchi’s hands — jetting out from his fully extended diving body — deflected the ball away to keep the score within a goal.
“He played great today,” Brandeburg said of the Waimea goalie. “I told that to him when we were shaking hands. He was great.”
Taniguchi’s play was crucial because Kaua‘i’s offense looked sharp at a time where most teams are shaking off the rust. In the first half the Raiders played a calm and strategic game. That played out in the second as well, although the Menehune were able to mount a late charge in the dying minutes.
“We started out a bit jittery today,” Waimea head coach Dalton Matsuyama said. “We settled down in the second half and played a lot better. We’re a young team and we’re working to get better.”
The Menehune had their chances to tie the game. In the 17th minute, Devan Banashihan-Kenny chipped a shot over Raider keeper Dylan Snyder’s head, but the ball clanked off of the crossbar. Late in the second half, Isaac Fierro had a free kick for the Menehune deep in Raider territory, but the ball jumped off Fierro’s foot and sailed out of bounds.
The Raiders regained possession and used their slick passing and control to drain time off of the clock.
“We’ve been concentrating on controlling and passing during practices,” Brandeburg said. “I really think our conditioning paid off. Waimea loves that run and gun mode. It was a horse race in the second.”
A bright spot for the Raiders was the play of another exchange student, Eduardo Villarrubia. The Spaniard’s speed and strong physical play almost led to a goal in the second half, but a jumping save by Taniguchi kept Villarrubia out of the scoring column.
In addition to Villarrubia and Jimenez, Andre Appel adds a third player to Kaua‘i’s list of players from abroad. Appel, from Denmark, helped anchor the Red Raider defense when the Menehune runners took over.
“All three of our exchange students are tremendous,” Brandeburg said. “They’re all very talented.”
