LIHUE — Warriors junior midfielder Tutearii Tuturu scored during the waning minutes to deliver his team its first win of the season. Kapaa High School’s varsity boys soccer team defeated Waimea, 2-1, Saturday afternoon at Vidinha Stadium. “It feels good.
LIHUE — Warriors junior midfielder Tutearii Tuturu scored during the waning minutes to deliver his team its first win of the season.
Kapaa High School’s varsity boys soccer team defeated Waimea, 2-1, Saturday afternoon at Vidinha Stadium.
“It feels good. It’s the best feeling in the world,” Tuturu said.
Tuturu’s match-winning goal came at the 76th minute from inside the 18-yard box.
“I don’t know who crossed it. Some kid crossed it, and I chipped the ball,” Tuturu said his goal. “I kind of did a bad kick. I thought it was going to miss. I thought it was going to go over. I was pissed for a second. But then it did a little backspin, and it went over the keeper. That was the moment.”
Kapaa (1-4-1 KIF) scored first at the 32nd minute. Warriors junior midfielder Gabe Franklin took a shot from just inside the 18-yard box.
“They’re happy. I know the boys have the ability to do well. It’s just a matter of putting all aspects of the game together to make that happen,” said Kapaa head coach Kevin Cram.
Cram added while it’s good to finally win a match, it is not the main objective.
“Win or lose, all I want to see is the boys improve,” he said. “I don’t really care too much. It’s nice to get the win. But as long as I continue to see the boys improving, that’s more important.”
Waimea (2-1-3 KIF) got an equalizer at the 54th minute. Menehune senior midfielder Cody Taniguchi scored from inside the 18-yard box after the ball bounced around a bit following a throw-in by senior forward Carl Mecham.
Waimea then had numerous opportunities at a go-ahead goal.
Gardner had a chance at the 70th minute in the penalty area. He took a one-timer off a through ball from senior forward Isaiah Duldulao, then Warriors sophomore goalkeeper Chysen Lagunes-Rapozo made the save with his leg to deflect the ball.
“Many opportunities, and they were really good opportunities,” said Waimea head coach Kapono Chong-Hanssen. “Simple finishes, and we didn’t capitalize.”
Chong-Hanssen added perhaps his team was still feeling lingering effects from its previous match.
In a 1-1 draw with Island School on Wednesday, Waimea was issued three red cards. Consequently, two Menehune players and an assistant coach were not with the team during Saturday’s match.
“Extremely disappointing. That’s pretty much all I can say,” he said. “I think there’s some fatigue. I think there’s some, also, tentativeness because of what happened the last game. We paid the price for it.”
Kapaa will next play at Island School at 4 p.m. Wednesday, and Waimea will host Kauai High at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Hanapepe Stadium.
At Vidinha Stadium
Junior varsity girls: Kauai 4, Kapaa 0
Kauai goal scorers: Mia Takekekuma 4
Junior varsity boys: Waimea 3, Kapaa 2
Waimea goal scorers: Ethan Yamamoto, Levi Snowden, Wailani Kawaihalau
Kapaa goal scorers: Ryan Banasihan 2
Varsity girls: Kapaa 14, Waimea 0
Kapaa goal scorers: Brianna Binder 3, Aiyanah Walker 2, Kaisha Davis-Caberto 2, Natalie Devin 2, Talia Washington 2, April Barnes, Eryn Yamashiro, Shaylia Pimental
Varsity boys: Kapaa 2, Waimea 1
Kapaa goal scorers: Gabe Franklin, Tutearii Tuturu
Waimea goal scorer: Cody Taniguchi
Results from the varsity girls and boys matches between Kauai High and Island School were not available by press time
