Striking early, Kaua‘i High School’s girls soccer team defeated Kapa‘a yesterday 2-0 at Vidinha Stadium. After Kapa‘a goalie Poe Gantt’s sliding save on an Ashlyn Ubongen breakaway, Megan Vento flew a corner kick right past Gantt and to Katie Anderson,
Striking early, Kaua‘i High School’s girls soccer team defeated Kapa‘a yesterday 2-0 at Vidinha Stadium.
After Kapa‘a goalie Poe Gantt’s sliding save on an Ashlyn Ubongen breakaway, Megan Vento flew a corner kick right past Gantt and to Katie Anderson, who headed the ball into the net.
In the second half, Gantt mishandled a shot by Vento and the ball then rolled its way passed the goal line.
With the win, Kaua‘i is tied with Kapa‘a atop the KIF standings at 3-1.
“It feels good,” said Anderson. “We all worked hard and I’m glad we were able to pull it off.”
Communication and passing was the key to their victory.
“All this week at practice we worked on our communication and passing better to work as a team,” Anderson said.
While Kapa‘a mustered some offense, the team wasn’t able to capitalize on any shots.
“It’s frustrating to not see them perform to their ability,” said head coach Crissi Marti. “This week the intensity just wasn’t there. They didn’t play with their A-game today.”
Gantt took full responsibility for Kaua‘i’s second goal.
“It just slipped out of my hands. That was my fault,” she said. “I should’ve held on to it.”
On the boys side, Kapa‘a held on to the KIF lead by beating Kaua‘i 2-1.
The first half, however, belonged to Red Raiders. Brenden Young dodged three defenders and a slide tackle from the Warrior goalie to shoot one into the back corner of the net.
“We finally came out playing the way I knew we could play,” said Kaua‘i head coach Mark Brandeburg.
Trailing 1-0 at the half, Kapa‘a coach Kevin Cram took his boys aside for a talk.
“I just pointed out the fact that they weren’t playing the game we knew they could play and that hopefully they could pick it up and get back in the game,” Cram said.
The boys came out aggressively in the second half, scoring in the first few minutes of a Chance Bukoski deflection.
“Chance took a penalty kick, it deflected and got to me,” said Dylan James, who put Kapa‘a on the board. “That brought up our motivation.”
For the second goal, the play was somewhat reversed. James’ shot was deflected, landing right in front of Bukoski, who put them ahead. But it wasn’t without pressure from Kaua‘i.
“I was getting triple-teamed,” he said. “I just have to not touch the ball as often because they’re always on me.”
Next week, KIF play expands to two games a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Kaua‘i plays Waimea Wednesday at Hanapepe Stadium.
• Lanaly Cabalo, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or lcabalo@kauaipubco.com.
