Donning her red away-game jersey, Kaua‘i High’s Ashlyn Ubongen gave new meaning to the term “redshirt freshman.” Instead of being a first-year team member with no playing time, she’s come out as the team’s leading scorer. A pair of Ubongen
Donning her red away-game jersey, Kaua‘i High’s Ashlyn Ubongen gave new meaning to the term “redshirt freshman.” Instead of being a first-year team member with no playing time, she’s come out as the team’s leading scorer.
A pair of Ubongen goals lifted Kaua‘i to a 3-1 win over Kapa‘a yesterday, forcing a KIF playoff between the two schools next week.
“It was a tough game,” Ubongen said. “They’re a good team.”
To call yesterday’s game tough is an understatement. It was a very physical game with the girls committing fouls left and right. Play briefly came to a halt when Kapa‘a’s Leila Barnett went down and eventually had to be carried off the field and taken to the hospital.
Overall, the officials handed out two yellow cards — one going to Ubongen — and one red.
Both teams went scoreless for about 25 minutes, until Ubongen broke away and beat Kapa‘a goalkeeper Poe Gantt one-on-one. Minutes later, Ubongen broke away again, this time colliding with a Kapa‘a defender. Immediately popping back up, she chased the ball to the far left corner and fired a long shot into the opposite post for her second goal.
“The pressure was on for the girls,” said Kaua‘i head coach Blanche Arakaki.
The coach was quick to praise her star player.
“She is a big factor and always is a big factor,” Arakaki said. “She goes out there and plays hard and they’re always targeting her.”
Kapa‘a couldn’t answer Kaua‘i’s momentum. Most Warrior shots floated just wide of the goal, but it didn’t stop them from taking them.
Kaua‘i keeper Savannah Rollins mishandled a shot from Kapa‘a’s Brittany Carvalho, forcing a corner kick, but Rollins redeemed herself with a save, one of 12 on the day.
“I was practicing really hard and trying to get back into my groove,” said Rollins, who was recovering from a staff infection in her leg. “I was doing a lot more diving. I really trust myself that I know how to respond when the ball comes my way.”
Carvalho would get her goal in the end, after a handball from Tiffany Ikeda-Simao gave her a free kick. Carvalho aimed high, floating it above the wall and into the back of the net.
In the second half, Kaua‘i’s Katie Anderson floated one of her own over the outstretched arms of Gantt.
On the sidelines, Kapa‘a head coach Crissi Marti had to stop herself from throwing her water bottle out of frustration with the officials.
“I think everybody — the fans and the spectators — knew we got robbed,” she said.
Despite the penalties, she admitted this wasn’t her team’s best game.
“They didn’t bring it,” she said. “This was the fourth year in a row they’ve done this. I hope this loss shoves them back up into playing better.”
The playoff is set for Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Vidinha Stadium.
Kapa‘a’s boys soccer team, on the other hand, had nothing to lose. The Warriors already secured their spot in the state tournament but still defeated the Red Raiders 2-1.
Kapa‘a’s Chance Bukoski scored first on a penalty kick, then netted another off an Ikaika Fuerte corner kick.
Kaua‘i’s Josiah Motosue scored the team’s lone goal, also off a penalty kick.
The boys had their share of yellow cards, with the officials handing out two.
Kapa‘a travels to O‘ahu for the state tournament Feb. 14-17.
