Christian Liberty tops Konawaena

BY JOE FERRARO | WEST HAWAII TODAY

On Monday, Makua Lani coach Jared Komo didn’t see the body language of a boys soccer team that had fallen on hard times.

For Komo, the “excitement” that goes hand-in-hand with a playoff atmosphere helped wash away the negative emotions associated with a four-match losing streak.

“We stressed at practice what kind of a game it was,” Komo said on Tuesday after the Lions defeated Konawaena 2-0 on the road in a Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division II quarterfinal. “They didn’t need anything else.”

With its victory, Makua Lani (7-6-1) earned a spot in the BIIF semifinals, drawing defending Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II champion Honokaa (14-0) on the road in a 3 p.m. match. The winner earns a berth in this year’s HHSAA Division II state tournament, which takes place Feb. 15-18 on Oahu’s Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.

Just three days ago, the Lions suffered a 4-0 loss to the Dragons, ending a brutal four-game stretch in which opponents outscored Makua Lani by a combined score of 17-0.

“It’s hard to play a game like that when you lose that many in a row,” Komo said of his team’s win over the Wildcats, who finished the season 6-6-2. “I’m proud of them for fighting.”

About 15 minutes into the match, junior forward Elijah Lingenfelder scored his 20th goal of the season off a corner kick by junior Pono Ng.

For the remainder of the match, Komo said, the quartet of Andrew Dong, Eric Dong, Kevin Murphy and Brandt Mabuni played well on the back line in support of sophomore goalkeeper James Whalen.

“We won a lot of balls (and) challenged a lot,” Komo said. “They didn’t give (Konawaena) that many good looks at goal. (And it was) a solid performance by James in goal.”

Freshman Aidan Alcos essentially put the game away in the 78th minute, scoring his fifth goal on a breakaway.

Komo hopes the Lions can carry momentum from Tuesday’s match into its BIIF semifinal against Honokaa.

“Hopefully, we can feed off this win and bring all that we’ve got,” he said.

— Hawaii Prep 6, Parker 3: Junior forward Kepa Police tallied three goals, and junior forward Martynas Golubovskis scored twice for host HPA, which reeled off four consecutive goals in the first half after the Bulls took an early 1-0 lead.

Ka Makani (9-5) will face Christian Liberty (8-3-3) in a BIIF semifinal scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday at Amauulu Field. The Canefire notched a 4-3 victory in the regular-season meeting between the teams.

HPA’s prolific forwards — Golubovskis (team-high 19 goals) and Police (12 goals) — flourished despite Ka Makani playing without injured central midfielders Trevor Edwards (foot injury) and Jack Austin (back injury).

Also, junior Jevin Ching scored his first goal of the season on a header.

HPA coach Richard Braithwaite said Austin will try to play on Thursday, but he ruled Edwards out.

Ka Makani lost another player for its BIIF semifinal when sweeper Kawika Wise and a Bulls player received red cards in a play that baffled Braithwaite.

“I didn’t see a foul or anything (from either player),” Braithwaite said. “There was no cursing, no anger or anything. It was very strange.”

Braithwaite said Parker junior forward Paul Gregg energized his team with dynamic runs on the flanks.

Sophomore Alex Guske scored his team-high 10th goal, Gregg collected his ninth and sophomore C.J. Brown bagged his seventh.

In the regular-season meeting between the teams, HPA defeated Parker 9-0.

“Parker played exceptionally well,” Braithwaite said. “It was a completely different game than when we played earlier in the season.”

— Christian Liberty 2, Kamehameha-Hawaii 1: Sophomore Louis Moylan staked the Canefire to a 2-0 lead with his 10th and 11th goals of the season at Amauulu Field for the host Canefire.

Kaua Aganus scored in the closing minutes for Kamehameha, which ended its season 4-9-1.

Stephens Media’s Kevin Jakahi contributed to this report.

jferraro@westhawaiitoday.com