LIHU‘E — The game came down to the final shot, Cambria Ort, the Kalala goalkeeper standing firm and slap-catching the Light Lightning’s final kick in shoot off Tuesday at the North Vidinha fields. At stake was a slot for the
LIHU‘E — The game came down to the final shot, Cambria Ort, the Kalala goalkeeper standing firm and slap-catching the Light Lightning’s final kick in shoot off Tuesday at the North Vidinha fields.
At stake was a slot for the title berth of the American Youth Soccer Organization, West Kaua‘i Region 940, Girls Under 14, and the reaction of the team resembled that of a Major League Baseball final as the purple shirts swarmed the stocky goalkeeper.
Ort, demonstrating her value in the backfield with numerous stops and field-clearing boots, which dropped the ball in front of its forwards, got a final shot with seconds remaining in regulation. But her shot from the right corner went wide, sending the game into shoot-out as the sun disappeared behind the west Lihu‘e mountain range.
Kalala earned its playoff spot with an earlier 9-0 win over Waimea-Abadilla last Thursday at the Kalawai Park.
Entering the field, Kalala took on the defensive stance as the Lihu‘e Lightning, garbed in green, took the offensive behind the strong play from Sonoi Kawakami on the left wing and Lyndsie Kashima, a midfielder, playing the right wing.
Kashima opened the scorebooks in the 10th minute, her foot finding the goal from about 25 yards out on a rebound play, despite the strong defense led by Kalala’s Halee Sommer, Kaitlynne Bukoski on the left wing and Mackenzie Hubbard.
The goal came on the heels of a nice cross from Kashima to Kawakami, the ball being booted to the right where Kashima was in position to win the ball and get off her shot from the outside.
The momentum switched as the Lightning took on a defensive posture through the second and third periods, trying to turn the momentum in the final stanza.
Alexandra Temme took the goalkeeper’s box for the Lightning in the second quarter, affording spectators numerous opportunities for cheering as the petite goalkeeper with the yellow shoes thwarted numerous goals with some scream-eliciting, nail-biting saves at the goal mouth.
Of note was a play where Temme was called on to do a corner kick, and after the Lightning lost control on the boot, Temme ran the length of the field to get back in position to defend.
With the Lightning holding a 1-0 half-time lead, Kalala kept up its offensive showing, returning to the field and capitalizing on a second effort when Bukoski found the net between traffic from about 10 yards out after a long kick from the left wing dropped in heavy traffic, which included Lightning goalie Chassidy Cantorna. The goal at the 36th minute deadlocked the match, 1-1 as both teams exchanged scoring opportunities, Ort getting a final chip shot-on-goal late in the game to force the shoot-out.
The AYSO, Region 940 playoffs continue Thursday when the Lightning gets another shot at the title game by taking on Waimea-Abadilla starting at 4:30 p.m. at the Hanapepe Soccer Field.
Over at Kalawai Park, the Boys Under 12 will have Koloa-Middlebrook, dropping a 2-0 match to Hanapepe-Trugillo last Thursday, facing Kalaheo-Peterson, a 5-0 winner over Lihu‘e-Matsunaga last Thursday at the North Vidinha fields. The boys playoff start at 4:30 p.m.
Earlier in the Boys Under 12 playoffs, Hanapepe-Trugillo was a 10-0 winner over Lihu‘e-Matsunaga last Tuesday and Koloa-Middlebrook was a 4-1 winner over Kalaheo-Peterson at Kalawai Park.
The Girls Under 12 division saw Koloa-Bukoski edge Kalaheo-Planas, 3-2 at Kalawai Park last Wednesday while Hanapepe-Mecham was a 4-0 winner over Lihu‘e-Perreira at Hanapepe.
Visit www.aysokauai.net for the full schedule and more information.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
