LIHUE — Six of the seven Kauai athletes in the EuroTour earned a gold or silver medal in Frederikshavn, Germany. Following a week of games played at the Dana Cup in Denmark, all of the Kauai soccer athletes experienced action on
LIHUE — Six of the seven Kauai athletes in the EuroTour earned a gold or silver medal in Frederikshavn, Germany.
Following a week of games played at the Dana Cup in Denmark, all of the Kauai soccer athletes experienced action on the field, six winning either a gold or silver medal in the tournament, said Shaylene Carvalho-Iseri, whose daughter Deshaynee Iseri-Carvalho is among the seven traveling athletes.
Lucas Anakalea, the youngest member of the group, competed well, Shaylene said, placing third in the Boys 11 division.
Joining Lucas, Deshaynee Iseri-Carvalho, Kaylee Overmyer, Gabrielle Anakalea, Kiani Souza, Bailey Hanna and Joshua Layaoen are the Kauai players who are attending the Gothia Cup in Sweden, which opened Sunday.
Deshaynee, Overmyer and Gabrielle played five preliminary games against Boys 10 teams from Denmark and Sweden during the Dana Cup.
“They clearly outplayed their opponents, preventing any points and winning all five games,” Shaylene said in an email. “They entered the finals to play against the Girls 12 Denmark team and went on to win their next two games, 4-0 and 5-1, to end the Dana Cup undefeated and bringing home the Gold Cup and gold medals in the Girls 12 division.”
The three girls were also entered in the Girls 13 division, but after winning against international teams from Norway, Denmark, Germany and United States, the team fell against the Benson and Marin FC, United States teams for third place.
Souza and Hanna, both players on the Kauai High School junior varsity team, played 12 games in the Girls 15 and Girls 17 divisions, emerging victorious for the Silver Cup and silver medals in both divisions.
Shaylene said although Souza and Hanna maintained their strength through the championship game in the Girls 17 division, others on the National Soccer Academy team sustained injuries which prevented them from taking the field.
The injuries moved NSA coaches to recruit Deshaynee and Overmyer to play for the Girls 17 team.
“Although these girls are only 12 years old, they were given this opportunity to play for the G17 team because of their exceptional skills, talent and passion for the game,” said Hawaii Youth Soccer Association coach Kevin Devitt, who accompanied the players on the EuroTour. “The girls were extremely excited to play against the older girls, and although NSA lost 0-3 against Denmark, the girls played their best and competed well. Both 12-year-olds received silver medals for playing in the championship game.”
Layaoen played 15 games against teams from Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Argentina, Australia and Mexico in the Boys 15 and Boys 17 divisions.
“Many of the games were extremely close with excellent defense preventing hardly any goals from being scored,” Shaylene said. “The Boys 17 lost against Norway in the semifinals, 0-1, but the Boys 15 played awesome and advanced to the championship game against Denmark.”
The NSA team won 1-0 in an exciting and close match for the Gold Cup and gold medals in the division.
The Dana Cup opened to more than 3,000 attendees on July 8. Starting in 1984, the Dana Cup is held during the 28th week each year and has hosted nearly 7,000 teams from 92 nations since its inception.
The Kauai athletes continue their EuroTour experience at the Gothia Cup in Gothenberg, Sweden, which runs through Saturday.
• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
