PUHI — The Kapaa High School girls soccer team waited until the second half to make their mark, firing off two goals in the final 20 minutes of play for a 2-0 victory over Island School Saturday at the Island
PUHI — The Kapaa High School girls soccer team waited until the second half to make their mark, firing off two goals in the final 20 minutes of play for a 2-0 victory over Island School Saturday at the Island School soccer facility.
“We started off rocky,” said Kapaa head coach Mytra McKeague. “The girls had their Winter Ball Friday night and must have been in Winter Ball mode in the first half. They shook off everything in the second half.”
McKeague said Island School was well-prepared for the Warrior women.
“Hats off to the Voyager women,” McKeague said. “They played well, and hard. They were well prepared for us.”
Following a 0-0 halftime stalemate, Kapaa readjusted its offense and lit the scoreboards when Brianna Binder found the net on a third effort off a corner kick.
“The Warriors lost on a restart last week,” said Island School coach Colby Ayonon. “This week, they scored first on a restart. As a coach, it tears you when you drop on a restart, so Kapaa must have worked hard on that.”
Kapaa followed the goal in the second half with another goal from April Barnes who took the feed from Kainani Moniz off the right wing and found the net in traffic with 20 minutes left on the game clock.
“Finding the net was one of our offensive challenges,” said Kailana Kaiminaauao, a Kapaa team captain. “We had a rough first half, but came back more settled in the second half, connecting more passes, and not over-analyzing.”
Barnes took the field for the first time following a nine-month layoff.
“It feels good to be back on the field,” the Warrior forward said. “After nine months, I’m glad to be back playing.”
Ayonon said despite the loss, the Voyagers played well.
“Our defense did well,” Ayonon said. “Overall we had a few errors, but we got to play everyone. Our goalkeeper left on a trip so we had Emma Kelekoma doing tending duty.”
Kaiminaauao said the team gets some time off to enjoy Christmas before their next game which takes place Jan. 6 when they face Waimea at Vidinha Stadium.
