There may be two Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls soccer teams battling for the top spot in the Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association Division II girls soccer state championships, Saturday on O‘ahu. Playing at the Waipio Peninsula
There may be two Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls soccer teams battling for the top spot in the Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association Division II girls soccer state championships, Saturday on O‘ahu.
Playing at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex, both No. 2 seed Kapa‘a and unseeded Kaua‘i won their respective games to advance in the brackets, Thursday.
The KIF champion Kapa‘a Warriors opened its bid early when Taylor-Alani Kaneakua marked her first varsity goal in the 15th minute.
Powerful Warrior forward, Madisson Hinkel iced the win with a goal in the 35th minute for the 2-0 final over Nanakuli.
Cascade Mayer scored two first-half goals and Joni Hashizumi netted a pair of second-half goals to lead Kaua‘i to a 7-0 upset of No. 4 seeded Radford in another field at the Waipio soccer complex, Thursday.
Midfielder Marissa Ruiz headed a Kaylee Tamura corner kick in the seventh minute of play to get Kaua‘i on the boards early against Radford.
Mayer followed that goal in the 28th minute with Alyssa “Malu” Vegas netting her goal in the 35th minute. A late goal with seconds left in the first half by Mayer on a cross from Kyren Ishikawa gave Kaua‘i its 4-0 bulge.
Returning from the break, Ishikawa netted a goal of her own, sinking the ball off a Tamura corner kick in the 55th minute.
Hashizume iced the win with the final two goals, the first coming off another Tamura corner kick in the 64th minute and the second being netted off a cross from Teesha Tamip for the 7-0 final.
With the wins, Kapa‘a faces the No. 3 seed Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy while Kaua‘i, working its way into the tournament via a 3-0 win over Sacred Hearts in a play-in game for the final Division II berth, will go up against the Division II top seed, Mid Pacific Institute, the same team which pushed Sacred Hearts to Vidinha Stadium for the play-in.
Should both KIF teams be successful in their Friday semifinal matches, they will face each other for the Division II title, Saturday in a 5 p.m. showdown at the Main Stadium at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.
Visit www.sportshigh.com for a complete bracket reading of both Division I and Division II at the girls state soccer championships.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
