Behind clutch play from its senior leaders, Hawaii Preparatory Academy topped Leilehua 4-3 in double overtime of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association quarterfinals at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex, continuing the team’s Cinderella postseason run.
Behind clutch play from its senior leaders, Hawaii Preparatory Academy topped Leilehua 4-3 in double overtime of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association quarterfinals at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex, continuing the team’s Cinderella postseason run.
“I think we have slowly started to believe in ourselves,” said HPA head coach Rich Braithwaite. “Our seniors in leadership and energy have stepped up and made the difference for us in the postseason.”
In other quarterfinals involving Big Island Interscholastic Federation teams, Honokaa and Christian Liberty also won and will meet at 1 p.m. today in the semifinals, ensuring the Big Island at least one representative in the 5 p.m. final on Saturday.
Ka Makani came out as the more explosive team, peppering the Mules’ goaltender with chances. Not converting on scoring opportunities was the theme of HPA’s regular season, and the same problem haunted the BIIF Division II champions early on.
Demar Stewart scored in the 30th and 34th minutes to give the Mules a quick 2-0 lead before half.
“Our guys looked three steps faster than any of their defenders,” Braithwaite said. “It was honestly the kind of game that five minutes in, I thought we would win 4-0, but we could not get one home. The keeper kept them in it and in a blink of an eye were down 2-0.”
Stewart finished the game with a hat trick for Leilehua, and did so with a target on his back.
“We knew they had a good striker, and he lived up to the billing,” Braithwaite said. “He was very strong and good on the ball. We knew he was right footed, so we tried to put him on his left but he still burned us.”
HPA entered the break with a two-goal deficit, desperately searching for a spark.
Senior captain Jack Austin had not played all season with a nagging hamstring injury. During halftime, Austin approached Braithwaite, and with his team’s season on the line, asked to be put in.
“A hamstring injury is not the type of thing you can gut though. He had to sit because it was simply not a possibility for him to run,” Braithwaite said. “At the half he told me it’s now or never coach, and we put him in.”
In his first action all season, Austin was a force in the midfield, winning nearly every ball that came his way, and threading passes through to the speedy Ka Makani forwards.
“His presence lit a huge fire under us,” Braithwaite said.
HPA tied the game with goals by seniors Kama Hurwitz in the 44th minute and Brendan Moynahan (50).
Stewart added his third goal in the 73rd minute.
With Ka Makani down 3-2, the ref signaled for extra time to begin. As the minutes ticked off, it became obvious the next whistle would signal the end of HPA’s season.
The defense dumped the ball into the Leilehua end and multiple players from each team swarmed. The ball squeaked through, onto the foot of senior forward Kharim “KB” Barthso who buried a shot into the top shelf, tying the game and forcing overtime.
“The referee had his whistle in his mouth. We were wondering what the stoppage time was and it ended up being a good five minutes,” Braithwaite said. “KB really helped us. He is a confident player, but I think it has been just in this last month that he has really bought in.”
The teams traded chances in the first overtime, but the score remained tied.
In the second overtime, Justin Perry spotted a streaking Hurwitz on the other side of the field, and headed over a perfectly timed ball that Hurwitz nailed home for the win.
“It was something we had worked on in practice a bit,” Braithwaite said. “Justin Perry is very good in the air and Kama timed it perfectly. He really drilled it from 5 or 6 yards out.”
HPA advances to play Mid-Pac in the semifinals today at 3 p.m.
Mid-Pac beat Seabury Hall in the quarterfinals — the Owls prevailed after two scoreless overtimes and nearly a dozen rounds of penalty kicks.
Despite HPA’s inexperience at the state level, Braithwaite is confident his squad can ride the momentum from the big win.
“Mid-Pac knows what its like — they have been in this position,” Braithwaite said. “None of the guys on our teams have been here. What is important for us is staying composed and keeping our structure. I feel we have more dangerous forwards and a great midfield. Getting rid of jitters and being able to get into the game will be key for us. It’s going to be one of those battles.”
Honokaa 1, Kapaa 0
Jevin Dement scored in the 78th minute as the Dragons reached the semifinals for the fourth time in five seasons.
Honokaa coach Maurice Miranda likes to call Dement “Gumby.”
“He’s got size, but he’s agile and hard to knock off the ball,” Miranda said.
Those attributes came in handy for Dement late the match against the top-seeded Warriors (11-2) when he gathered a ball and was able to keep it at his chest, depositing it into the net on the near side.
Miranda credited the defensive efforts of Gavin Laird, Aukanai Kapu and Chance Salva with thwarting Kapaa, which was unable to get many good scoring chances in close against goalkeeper Elzer Maltezo.
However, Miranda said midfielder Tony Connors was the best player on the field for Honokaa (10-3-3), the BIIF’s third-place team.
“Tony put the team on his back,” Miranda said.
Christian Liberty 4, Roosevelt 2
Louis Moylan scored twice and Sequoya Kerr netted the go-ahead goal as the Canefire (12-4) rebounded from a tough loss in the BIIF title game.
Christian Liberty coach Troy Rimel said his team was able to slowly recover earlier in the week after missing on myriad scoring opportunities and losing to HPA 1-0 on Saturday for its third straight runner-up finish.
“The goal was to beat Roosevelt and get to the main stadium and play two games,” Rimel said.
The first of those two contests comes at 1 p.m. today against Honokaa, which beat the Canefire 3-1 during the regular season.
“We’re pretty excited,” Rimel said. “(Coach Miranda) was joking that we have a date tomorrow. He tried to tell me the game was at 4 p.m.”
On Thursday, prolific scorer Nakaiya Kerr dropped back from forward to midfield against the No. 4 Rough Riders (7-6), recording a goal and three assists for the Canefire, whose highest finish at states was third place in 2012.