PUHI — Fans came to see history being made Saturday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation soccer games at Island School.
Island School has never achieved a KIF soccer title since participating in the program, fans murmured, and Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Waimea High boys brought the varsity Voyagers a step closer to the title with two games remaining on its 2022 calendar.
According to standings posted Feb. 13 on Scoringlive.com, the Island School boys are listed as 4-0-0 followed by the Kapa‘a boys at 2-1-1, the Kaua‘i High boys at 1-2-1 and Waimea at 0-4-0.
With nothing to lose, the Menehune tromped out with a strong stance on defense and offense.
The Voyagers broke the physical defensive effort by slipping through and scoring its first goal in the first 10 minutes of play before settling down to hold off a Waimea counter effort.
Coming off the break, Waimea broke into the scorebooks when Kaio Tsuchiya found the net for a 1-1 stalemate that was later broken by the Voyagers for the win. The names of the Voyager goal-scorers were unavailable at presstime.
Earlier in the day, the Waimea girls picked up its second season win, 2-0 behind Jasmine Semblante, committing to play soccer for Hawai‘i Pacific University, who finished with a goal and an assist. Kendra Knapp scored the other Menehune goal.
The Menehune girls’ victory pretty much clinched Waimea’s entry as the third KIF representative to The Queen’s Medical Center Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association Division 2 girls soccer tournament that opens Feb. 23 on O‘ahu.
According to Scoringlive.com Feb. 13, the Kapa‘a girls currently sit atop the standings at 5-0-2, followed by Kaua‘i at 2-1-2, Waimea at 1-3-1 and Island School at 0-4-1.
“We got our second win of the season,” Semblante said following the contest.
With just one more game today, the Kapa‘a girls suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of Kaua‘i High, whose two goals by Brianna Ehia were answered by a single goal by Hanna Wamsley.
Kapa‘a girls will travel to Hanapepe Stadium, Monday for a single game against Waimea starting at 6 p.m.
Kaua‘i girls will also host a final season game today against Island School at Vidinha Stadium in Lihu‘e, starting at 6 p.m.
No details were available for the Kapa‘a boys’ 2-1 edge over Kaua‘i.
Boys’ soccer play continues Wednesday when Kapa‘a makes the trip over to Hanapepe Stadium where the Warriors will face Waimea, with the JV contest starting at 5 p.m. and the varsity boys starting at 6:45 p.m.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
