BY JOE FERRARO | WEST HAWAII TODAY ADVERTISING The furious final push didn’t yield the equalizer they desperately wanted. But if there was any way Hawaii Prep coach Steve Perry could have accepted a loss from his girls soccer players
BY JOE FERRARO | WEST HAWAII TODAY
The furious final push didn’t yield the equalizer they desperately wanted.
But if there was any way Hawaii Prep coach Steve Perry could have accepted a loss from his girls soccer players Saturday at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex, this was it.
Junior A.J. Johnson scored a goal off a rebound in the 17th minute, and it held up the rest of the way for Mid-Pacific, which defeated Ka Makani 1-0 to win its second consecutive Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II state title.
Three-time defending Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion HPA (15-2) applied offensive pressure in the final five minutes, firing three shots and getting two corner kicks.
In the 79th minute, sophomore forward Nanea Tavares juked out an Owls defender in the left corner before ripping a 10-yard shot that clanged off the top of the crossbar.
The last flurry of chances also included a Leeta Grap header off a Katie Case corner kick that went wide right, and a Jessica Benioni shot from the top of the box that Mid-Pacific sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Poppinga saved.
“I told the girls after the game I’ll remember those last 10 minutes for a long time,” Perry said. “I give them credit for not going down without a fight.
“There’s not much left in the tank. All I asked was to give it their all, and they did.”
The Owls (8-6-1) scored their lone goal when junior midfielder Taylor Higa fired a shot from the left side of the 18-yard box that HPA senior goalkeeper Hannah Unger turned back with a spectacular diving save.
But as the ball trickled toward the right goalpost, Johnson charged in and knocked in the match’s lone goal.
HPA had the only other quality chance in the first half, with Grap heading another Case corner kick toward the right post, but a Mid-Pacific defender cleared the ball out of the box.
Mid-Pacific outshot HPA 14-13, getting two other good chances in the second half. Unger made stops on both, making another diving stop on a Higa shot in the 55th minute.
Perry said the Owls’ defensive tactics limited HPA’s number of scoring opportunities.
“They were jamming the middle of the field a little bit, which neutralized Katie and (junior midfielder Emily Evans) a little bit,” Perry said. “We like going through the middle of the field, and that made things a little frustrating.”
But at the end of the day, Perry had no complaints about his team’s effort.
“They’re not regretful about anything they did on the field,” the HPA coach said.
Five other teams — Kealakehe, Konawaena, Kamehameha-Hawaii, Honokaa and Makua Lani — also played in the state tournament, and Perry said supporters from each of the schools cheered for HPA in the Division II final.
“I saw them all afterward, and it was nice to see,” Perry said. “And we really do appreciate the support, and we were trying to represent the Big Island the best we could.”
Saturday’s match marked the first time Ka Makani’s girls soccer team reached the final. Perry said this year’s HPA team “set the bar for the future.”
“Easily, it’s the best group I’ve had with their focus, talent and unselfishness,” Perry said. “It would be nice if we can ever create that mixture again. It doesn’t come around all the time.”
With just six seniors graduating in the spring, HPA will return a solid nucleus featuring two dangerous forwards in Tavares (team-high 19 goals) and freshman Bri Vallente (17 goals), a strong midfielder in Evans (six goals) and versatile freshman Gabbie Ewing (nine goals).
However, Perry hopes the team’s returning players will assume the leadership roles Case, Grap and Unger took on this season.
“They rubbed off on a lot of girls, and that can only help in the future.”
c Kamehameha-Hawaii 3, Honokaa 1: Junior Kera Akiyama scored her 17th goal of the season, and senior Sharayah Ah Chong added her 10th as the BIIF Division II runner-up Warriors ended their season 10-5-2.
Senior Olivia Azevedo started the scoring in the 16th minute with her second goal, and Ah Chong followed with her goal in the 42nd.
Sophomore Allie Shiraki scored her team-high 14th goal for BIIF No. 3 seed Honokaa, which finished (9-8).
Division I
c Baldwin 5, Kealakehe 3: Much to Waverider coach Jim Smith’s dismay, Maui Interscholastic League champion Baldwin (15-2) jumped out to a 4-0 lead through 49 minutes.
“The first half was probably the worst defensive game we played all season,” he said.
However, a three-goal flurry in the second half that cut the Bears’ lead to 4-3 with nine minutes remaining produced what Smith saw as the proper ending for the high school careers of seniors Kyonna McDonald, Rachael Bianchi, Isla Kruger-Burgess, Cheyanne MacMullen, Brittany Denzer and McKenna Davidson.
“At least it gave them a little pride when they left the field,” Smith said.
Junior forward Kari Van Mols started the scoring spree with her 21st goal in the 68th minute, and Bianchi followed with her 11th a minute late.
The Waveriders won the first BIIF Division I title in the school’s history and their first state tournament game.
“I honestly thing it’s the experience,” Smith said when asked about the difference between the Waveriders’ team that won this year’s BIIF title and the one that fell one game short last season. “And I think we were more fit, and the seniors on the team were on the same page.
“We played as a team. We didn’t have any individual superstars.”
Kealakehe also finished undefeated — a feat Bianchi said the Waveriders thought about seven or eight games into the season.
But it wasn’t something that entered Smith’s mind at any point in the season.
“I wanted to be the best team on the island,” Smith said. “I didn’t expect undefeated. That was nice to do.”
The Kealakehe coach does expect his team to perform at a high level again next year.
“We’ll be pretty strong,” Smith said. “I really don’t see a big drop-off. I expect to be back in states.”
c Kapolei 3, Konawaena 0: Behind senior midfielder Cherise Vidinha’s hat trick, Oahu Interscholastic Association runner-up Kapolei (11-4-1) blanked Konawaena in the tournament’s seventh-place match.
The BIIF runner-up Wildcats, which made their first state tournament appearance since 2008, finished the season 11-5-1.
jferraro@westhawaiitoday.com
