LIHU‘E – The Waimea High School Menehune varsity boys soccer team along with their head coach, Mark Kennett were honored by the Kaua‘i county council prior to the start of the council’s meeting, Thursday. The Menehune have recently returned from
LIHU‘E – The Waimea High School Menehune varsity boys soccer team along with their head coach, Mark Kennett were honored by the Kaua‘i county council prior to the start of the council’s meeting, Thursday.
The Menehune have recently returned from Maui where they attained the No. 3 position at the Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) state boys soccer championships that were held on the campus of the Kamehameha Schools on Maui.
On the road of their achievements on Maui, the Menehune usurped four-time defending champions Mililani Trojans, 3-2 following a grueling 2-1 opening bid against Kaiser that came in a 3-1 penalty-kick tie breaker following two scoreless overtime periods.
Joshua Cabral opened up the Menhune scorebooks in that game only to be answered by the Cougars’ Jonathan Su.
But, the Menehune rose to the occasion in the tie breaker with Kenny Estes, Joseph Mecham, and Chad Thompson, the KIF player of the year, chalking scores.
Against the Trojans, Thompson scored twice, the first one giving Waimea a 1-0 halftime lead, with Cabral providing the margin of victory at the 53-minute mark of a physical matchup.
The pair of grueling games took its toll as the Menehune suffered their only loss of the championships at the hands of Kamehameha-O‘ahu on Friday, Feb. 11, falling 3-1 with Thompson scoring the sole Menehune goal in the second half, the score coming on a penalty kick after Thompson was tackled inside the penalty box.
That loss pit Waimea against Kealakehi of the BIIF for third place with Walea Arquette and Jeff Kakuda each netting two goals apiece and Thompson gracing the 5-0 victory for the third place trophy.
According to Bonnie Honma, a mother of one of the Menehune players, Coach Kennett, as well as each soccer player was given the opportunity to address the county council during the presentation authored by Councilman James Togioka.
“There were many parents in attendance,” Honma said. “It was a proud moment for all of us.
