PUHI — The Warrior girls have now won seven matches in a row. Kapaa High School’s varsity girls soccer team defeated Island School, 2-nil, Saturday morning in Puhi. “We had to work hard. Once you’re on top, it’s hard to
PUHI — The Warrior girls have now won seven matches in a row.
Kapaa High School’s varsity girls soccer team defeated Island School, 2-nil, Saturday morning in Puhi.
“We had to work hard. Once you’re on top, it’s hard to stay up there,” said Warriors head coach Mytra McKeague. “Everybody wants to pull you down. So, we just got to stay focused and keep working at practice.”
Kapaa (7-1-0 KIF, 21 points) got the game’s opening goal at the 21st minute. Junior outside midfielder Vanessa Hernandez served a corner kick from the near side. The ball bounced around in the penalty area before junior center midfielder Natalie Devin tapped the ball to the net.
Hernandez scored the team’s second goal at the 24th minute from inside the 18-yard box.
“I think, definitely, our center mids were holding. And also our defenders. Everyone was working together,” Hernandez said. “Just communicating and just slowing the game down. That’s what (brought us) success.”
“Except for the first 10 minutes today, we’ve been passing well,” McKeague added. “I think the girls came out a little bit excited — too excited. Once they settled down, they started to connect their passes.”
Island School (3-5-0 KIF, 9 points) had two corner kicks during the second half, but couldn’t take advantage of them and score.
“Kapaa’s a good offensive team. They scored on us on another restart, on the corner kick, which we’re trying to work on. It’s one of our little downfalls,” said Island School head coach Colby Ayonon. “That gave them a little momentum, and then they put another one away in that first half.”
“We had a little shutout in the second half,” he added. “All of our girls got to play. As a team, we played much better in the second half, which is our tendency.”
Island School will play Kauai High at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Vidinha Stadium in Lihue. Kapaa will play Waimea at 5 p.m. Wednesday, also at Vidinha.
– Kapaa’s varsity boys went ahead late to also win, 2-nil, at Island School following the varsity girls match.
“Well, I know we’ve got players that can make things happen. It’s just that they sometimes take their time putting it together,” said Warriors head coach Kevin Cram. “I knew we had the potential to score, but having to wait this long was a little bit unnerving.”
Following a scoreless first half, Kapaa (4-2-1 KIF, 13 points) broke through at the 65th minute. Junior forward Michael DeWitt was served a through ball toward the penalty area and put the ball to the net. Senior forward Koa Kallai, who started the game at goalkeeper, had the assist.
Kallai then scored the team’s second goal at the 75th minute. Kallai bounced the ball off his chest before striking from inside the 18-yard box.
“I feel like we were able to be on the same page a lot better than our last games, make passes and connect a lot better,” DeWitt said. “I feel like we still have room for improvement, and we will improve in the future.”
The Voyagers (2-3-2 KIF, 8 points) were awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area at the 68th minute. Freshman midfielder Ben Griep took a shot to goal, but the ball bounced off the near side post.
“We made some adjustments. We pressed them hard in the second half. I thought the second half was way better for us than the first half,” said Voyagers coach Sean Magoun. “(We had) opportunities in both the first and second halves. If you don’t capitalize on those opportunities, what are you going to do? They did. They capitalized on two opportunities in front of the net and got them in.”
Island School will play Kauai High at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Vidinha Stadium. Kapaa will play Waimea at 7 p.m. Wednesday, also at Vidinha.
– Kauai High’s girls (5-2-1 KIF, 16 points) defeated Waimea (0-7-1 KIF, 1 point), 5-0, Saturday at Vidinha Stadium.
Aleigha Scovel scored three goals, and Caley Caires and Judy Ann Edurisa each scored one.
Waimea’s boys (6-0-1 KIF, 19 points) defeated Kauai (0-7-0 KIF, 0 points), 3-1.
Isaiah Duldulao, Justin Fune and Kody Gardner each scored for the Menehune.
Michael Dresler got a goal for the Red Raiders.
