LIHUE — A penalty kick gave the Voyagers the lead as Island School’s varsity girls soccer team defeated Waimea, 2-1, Tuesday at Vidinha Stadium. “The game’s not done until the whistle is blown. The girls fought hard,” said Voyagers head
LIHUE — A penalty kick gave the Voyagers the lead as Island School’s varsity girls soccer team defeated Waimea, 2-1, Tuesday at Vidinha Stadium.
“The game’s not done until the whistle is blown. The girls fought hard,” said Voyagers head coach Colby Ayonon. “We definitely weren’t satisfied with a tie. The good thing to see is how the program is getting better.
“Waimea stepping up, you never know. They come out and they play hard,” he added. “They want to be competitive, and they sure showed it today. Competitive games are definitely fun to watch and exciting. I think our girls just wanted it a little more.”
Menehune senior defender Kanoe Ano was issued a yellow card for pushing a Voyagers player in the penalty area in the closing minutes.
Junior striker Nora Foss took the penalty kick for Island School and put it past the Waimea keeper for the go-ahead score.
Foss also scored the equalizing goal for the Voyagers at the 64th minute in the 18-yard box. Junior striker Ali Temme served the cross to Foss for the assist.
“It was pretty nerve-racking. I could hear everyone like, “Come on!” because its 1-1. You only get one chance. I tried to compose myself, and I just kicked it like I always do,” Foss said about the PK. “I knew when I kicked that it was going to go in. When it went in, I was like, ‘Oh, good.’”
Menehune sophomore forward Jana Luis tapped in the game’s opening goal at the 35th minute inside the penalty area. Senior forward Kailani Yamamoto had the assist.
“Our girls came out ready to play. Island School, like they always are, they’re a well-coached team. They got their heads together and they got going,” said Waimea head coach William Trugillo. “It’s unfortunate about the way the end result was, but you can’t take away from Island School. They played all the way through.”
“We’ll hold our heads up, regroup and try again,” he added.
Island School (3-4-0 KIF, 9 points) will host Kapaa at 10 a.m. Saturday. Waimea (0-6-1 KIF, 1 point) will play Kauai at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Vidinha Stadium.
– The Voyager and Menehune boys played to a nil-nil draw following the varsity girls match on Tuesday.
With the end result, Waimea’s win streak ends at five games.
“Going undefeated wasn’t something that we were too focused about,” said Menehune head coach Kapono Chong-Hanssen. “I don’t feel any different as far as the pressure. The positive thing, the way I look at it, is that I’m glad they we learned a lesson now.
“I’ve talked to them plenty of times. ‘If you’re not humble, then you’ll be taught to be humble. You’ll learn your lesson,’” he added. “Hopefully, we learned our lesson as a whole team, and we don’t have to learn another one later in the season. We can improve from this one and bounce back.”
Menehune freshman forward Shayden Duldulao had a one-on-one opportunity at the 67th minute. He took a touch before striking from inside the penalty area, but the shot went wide of the post.
“Hats off to Island School. They played really disciplined today,” Chong-Hanssen said. “They sat back and tried to frustrate us, and they did. We couldn’t get a goal. We had some changes as far as personnel options today, so that didn’t give us much preparation time, too. That’s part of it, but bottom line is that we didn’t come out and bring the same intensity and same energy that we’ve had in the other games.”
Voyagers sophomore forward Brandon Beydoun had a chance for a go-ahead goal at the 77th minute. His shot went wide as a Menehune defender came in sliding to prevent the play.
“The boys played very hard and very disciplined today. We tried to just stand toe-to-toe with Waimea, and the boys did exactly that,” said Island School head coach Sean Magoun. “The game was filled with opportunities. Unfortunately or fortunately, however you want to look at it, neither team found them. But definitely, hats off to Waimea. Hard fought game. It was a very respectable game, for sure.”
Waimea (5-0-1 KIF, 16 points) will play Kauai High at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Vidinha Stadium. Island School (2-2-2 KIF, 8 points) will host Kapaa on Saturday at noon.
