BY JOE FERRARO | WEST HAWAII TODAY ADVERTISING Getting two goals they truly believed were legitimate disallowed was frustrating enough. More importantly, the Honokaa Dragons faced a halftime deficit for the first time since a nonconference match against Kealakehe in
BY JOE FERRARO | WEST HAWAII TODAY
Getting two goals they truly believed were legitimate disallowed was frustrating enough.
More importantly, the Honokaa Dragons faced a halftime deficit for the first time since a nonconference match against Kealakehe in late November.
“How do you respond?” Honokaa boys soccer coach Maurice Miranda recalled asking himself Friday at Oahu’s Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.
Miranda got the response he wanted: an offensive assault on Mid-Pacific’s goal.
Honokaa scored four goals in the first 20 minutes of the second half, carrying the Dragons to a 5-1 win over the Owls and into their second straight Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II state final.
“Like the resilient team they’ve been all season, they took it to another level,” Miranda said of the Dragons (18-0), who will face Kauai Interscholastic Federation champion Kapaa (11-1-2) in the complex’s stadium at 5 p.m. today in a rematch of last year’s state championship match.
Sophomore Justin Warren erased Mid-Pacific’s 1-0 halftime lead over the first five minutes of the second half, tying the match in the 41st minute before scoring his 14th goal of the season in the 45th.
Junior Nino Quijano assisted on both of Warren’s goals.
The defending Division II state champion Dragons tallied their next three goals off throw-ins by Dylan Shiraki, with Quijano finding the net in the 54th minute and Connors scoring his 13th goal in the 60th. Mid-Pacific’s goalkeeper deflected the last of Shiraki’s throw-ins into the net in the final minute.
However, the goals didn’t come so easily in the first half despite a handful of scoring chances.
The center referee disallowed a Connors goal, ruling the Honokaa senior midfielder kicked the ball out of the Mid-Pacific goalkeeper’s hands. According to Miranda, the ball bounced off the keeper’s chest before Connors kicked it.
Then shortly after the Owls (2-8-2) took a 1-0 lead on John Hyland’s goal in the 25th minute, the center referee disallowed a goal by junior Clayton Robinson, ruling a Honokaa player threw an elbow at the Mid-Pacific keeper’s throat during the play.
Miranda said he expressed his discontent over the calls with the soccer official but didn’t dwell on the officiating in his halftime speech.
Hyland’s goal, a bending 35-yarder that settled into the upper right corner of the net, marked the first goal Honokaa’s starters allowed since the Dragons defeated Waiakea 3-1 on Dec. 28.
“I told them, ‘Don’t focus on the referee. Don’t take your mind off the game,'” Miranda said. “The way we play in the first half is the way we’re going to continue to play in the second half.”
That’s exactly what the Dragons did, and Miranda expects that play to carry over into today’s final against Kapaa.
Miranda came away impressed with Warriors junior Joshua Cram while watching the tail end of Kapaa’s 2-1 win over Makua Lani on Thursday. However, the Honokaa coach said he and his players have never become preoccupied with an opponent’s strengths or style of play this season.
“These boys believe it doesn’t matter who we play,” Miranda said. “As long as we do what we do, we’ll be fine.”
— Kapaa 1, Christian Liberty 0: Junior forward Trevor McCracken’s goal in the 35th minute stood up for the Warriors, who sent the Big Island Interscholastic Federation runner-up Canefire into the state tournament’s third-place game.
Canefire coach Troy Rimel said McCracken struck the ball from about 25 yards out, and the wind blew it just out of goalkeeper Taylor Benavente’s reach and into the upper left corner of the net.
The teams played in winds gusting between 15 and 25 mph.
“Kapaa seemed to handle (the wind) OK, but we struggled with it,” Rimel said.
Rimel said the teams engaged in “back-and-forth” play after McCracken’s goal, with both squads enjoying scoring opportunities. The Christian Liberty coach credited junior Keenan Freitas and freshman Sequoya Kerr for performing well in the midfield.
The Canefire (10-5-3) will play Mid-Pacific at 1 p.m. today.
“We’re going into the stadium tomorrow, and we realize we’re going to represent the Big Island, and we’re going to give it our best shot,” Rimel said.
— Kahuku 3, Makua Lani 1: Junior Kekahu Aluli scored twice, and freshman Gabriel Pinheiro-Alves also found the net for the Oahu Interscholastic Association champion Red Raiders (8-5-1), who tallied three unanswered goals after facing a 1-0 deficit.
Junior Elijah Lingenfelder scored his 24th goal of the season for the Lions, who finished their season 8-9-1.
Division I
— Pearl City 2, Kealakehe 0: Senior George Georgiev broke a scoreless tie in the 52nd minute with a goal, and junior Eddie Rodriguez found the back of the net six minutes later for Pearl City, the OIA’s fourth seed.
BIIF champion Kealakehe went 0-2 at the state tournament, finishing the season 13-3-1.
jferraro@westhawaiitoday.com
