KAILUA-KONA — After an eventful Saturday, things are getting heated in Division I.
Hawaii Preparatory Academy is still the clear cut favorite in division with a perfect 6-0 league record. However, on the west side of the island, Waiakea had a chance to narrow the gap on Ka Makani. All the Warriors needed to do was beat Kealakehe — a team that had beat 5-0 earlier this season. The Waveriders had other plans.
Kealakehe fought to a late lead in the match and Waiakea only managed to escape with a 1-1 tie after scoring a goal in the final two minutes of play.
“I thought this was a good game, but the difference was effort,” said Warriors head coach David Urakami. “Kealakehe came to play and wanted to defend their turf. For us, this is a game we would have liked to win, but we are happy with a tie.”
Waiakea (4-2-1) now sits in second place, with Kealakehe (3-4-1) trailing the Warriors by three points as they fight to get out of the Division I cellar and avoid a first round matchup with Hawaii Prep.
“This puts us one point closer to our goal,” said Waveriders head coach Alden Sawada. “The team played with more intensity and a sense of urgency, and that was the difference.”
Kealakehe showed a lot of improvement from when the two teams met at the beginning of the season. The Warriors started strong but the Waveriders defended well before finally starting tilt the possession battle in their favor late in the first half.
Kealakehe had a great opportunity to score in the 14th minute, when Kean Schutte headed the ball off the post. The ball came back into play and a foul was called on Waiakea inside the box setting up a penalty kick for the Waveriders. However, the ball was pushed wide right off the foot of Brayan Munoz, allowing the game to remain scoreless.
Both teams had opportunities early in the second half, but the first goal would not come until the 68th minute when Schutte blasted a shot by the Waiakea keeper on another penalty kick.
It looked as though Kealakehe might escape with the win as the clock continued to tick down, but Waiakea stuck around. With under two minutes to play, John Grover lobbed a pass into the box, finding an open Kai Biegler just outside the six. Biegler headed the ball into the far post to tie the game.
Neither team would get another opportunity to score, as the whistle ended the game shortly after.
While a win would have been better for Waiakea, but a tie is better than a loss. Urakami knows what his team has to do to try to grab home field advantage for the BIIF Division I semis.
“We need to win two of our final three games and we will need to beat Hilo,” Urakami said. “We have a team that is still maturing, but I am excited to see where they will go.”
Hawaii Prep 2, Hilo 1
Ka Makani remained the BIIF’s last unbeaten, getting a go-ahead goal from Conor Hunt with about 10 minutes remaining.
Jack Mann scored for the Vikings (4-3), while David Welch-Keliihoomalu scored for HPA (7-0-0), which hadn’t played a match since Dec. 20.
“We’ve been missing a big portion of our team for a while, so different guys are stepping up,” HPA coach Rich Braithwaite said.