LIHUE — The Red Raider wahine found the net four times in the second half Saturday. With that, Kauai High School’s varsity girls soccer team defeated Island School, 4-1, at Vidinha Stadium. “The first half, we were very slow. We usually don’t
LIHUE — The Red Raider wahine found the net four times in the second half Saturday.
With that, Kauai High School’s varsity girls soccer team defeated Island School, 4-1, at Vidinha Stadium.
“The first half, we were very slow. We usually don’t play well in the heat,” said Red Raiders head coach Kevin Devitt about his team playing a scoreless first half. “We came out in the second half and picked up the pace a little bit. We started connecting more with the passes. It was nice.”
Kauai sophomore forward Lyndsie Kashima scored first at the 47th minute from inside the 18-yard box.
At the 57th minute, sophomore midfielder Railee Layosa scored the team’s second goal. Island’s School freshman goalkeeper Emma Kelekoma had a hand on the ball, but it slipped past her and found its way past the goal line.
Senior midfielder Wailana Gandeza then scored at the 69th minute and sophomore midfielder Kaitlynne Bukoski scored at the 74th minute to ice the win.
“Overall, I think we had a really good game. Island School came out strong, but I think after we settled down, we had some really good passes,” Gandeza said. “That really helped us out a lot.”
Voyagers sophomore striker Ali Temme scored from inside the box at the 58th minute.
“(Junior midfielder Brianna Griep) was taking it down the sideline. She crossed it in and I was running to the back post,” Temme said about her goal. “It bounced a couple of times, then I just kicked it in.”
Island School head coach Colby Ayonon said he had his team play more defensively in the first half and then pushed his team forward to try to get more chances to score.
“We’re getting better, but the other schools are moving along also,” Ayonon said. “Games have been getting a lot more physical. We’ve been working on protecting ourselves and holding people off the ball.
“We’re just trying to have fun and finish,” he added. “We get to meet Kapaa and Waimea once more, then call it a season.”
Kauai (7-1-2 KIF, 23 points) will play Waimea at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Vidinha Stadium. Island School (3-6-1 KIF, 10 points) will play Kapaa at home at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
w Red Raiders junior forward Eric Benitez scored at the 42nd minute to give Kauai High’s varsity boys soccer team a 1-0 victory over Island School on Saturday.
Benitez took a crack from about 25 yards out and the ball made its way to the back of the net.
“I had an extra touch. I just decided to shoot it and hoped for the best,” Benitez said. “I just shot it from far (away) with my left foot.”
Kauai head coach Mark Brandeburg said getting a win at this point of the season, with just four games left, is huge. He added his team has improved its passing since the season started.
“Their passing is getting better. We work on that a lot,” Brandeburg said. “When you connect passes, shots open up.”
At the 72nd minute, Voyager freshman forward Brandon Beydoun made a run and had a chance at an equalizer, but the ball was shot wide to the nearside of the field.
“Our mental acuity, our focus, is what we need to improve on,” said Island School head Sean Magoun. “We had our opportunities. Especially in the second half, we had a few more that were more clean-cut. We just didn’t put it to the back of the net.”
Kauai (4-2-2 KIF, 14 points) will play Waimea at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Vidinha Stadium. Island School (0-8-0 KIF, 0 points) will host Kapaa at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Saturday’s results
Waimea vs. Kapaa at Hanapepe Stadium
JV girls: Kapaa 6, Waimea 0
JV boys: Waimea 4, Kapaa 1
varsity girls: Kapaa 6, Waimea 1
varsity boys: Kapaa 3, Waimea 0
