KAILUA-KONA — There was no scoreboard with a ticking clock, but with just a sliver of sunset peaking through the trees at Old Kona Airport Park, Konawaena knew time was running out on its comeback effort against Makua Lani.
With a bevy of substitutes providing fresh legs, the Wildcats staged a strong second half flurry in search of an equalizer against the Lions, but the sun set on Konawaena’s rally as Makua Lani’s defense stood tall to preserve a 2-1 victory on Tuesday afternoon.
“That’s where you have to settle in,” Makua Lani captain Emmett Alcos said of his team’s resilience late. “We just had to weather the storm, dig deep and play hard.”
Alcos notched what would end up being the game-winner on a beautiful header in the first half, while Kai van Bergen opened the scoring for the Lions (1-0).
Kahana Freitas scored the lone goal for Konawaena (0-1).
It was the BIIF opener for both squads, but with the Wildcats back competing at the Division II level along side the Lions, the game took on some extra importance.
“We wanted to get out and have a strong start to the season so we are not playing catch-up later,” Makua Lani head coach Alex Dong said.
While it wasn’t the result Konawaena had hoped for, head coach Tod Ichishita was happy with his team’s effort.
“It’s a start. It took us a while to warm up in that first half, but I’m proud with how they played that second half,” Ichishita said. “I really wanted to see that fight from them, and they showed it, especially in the second half. They played with a lot of pride.”
A BIIF D-II squad has played for the state title every year since 2014, with Hawaii Prep — now in Division I — winning in 2016 and ‘17 and Kamehameha taking the crown last year. It’s a perennially tough crowd, but Ichishita sees it as a wide open opportunity.
“Division II is up for grabs,” Ichishita said. “Everyone is in the mix.”
For both squads, youth is the name of the game. Makua Lani is depending a roster that features as many freshman and sophomores as it does juniors and seniors.
Dong is looking to the seniors, especially Alcos, to guide the youth movement.
“A lot of our conversation has been about (Alcos) being a positive influence on everyone, keeping them going the right direction,” Dong said. “We had a lot of young bodies in there and it was nice to see them fitting into the system.”
Alcos is embracing the challenge of wearing the captain’s armband.
“I just want them to be their best and work hard,” Alcos said. “I don’t want to make them change their style or anything. We just want to stay positive and play our game.”
Makua Lani scored both its goals in the first half and the Lions could have had more. Konawaena defenders Carson Nishida and Kalai Santiago both turned away chances that got by the keeper right at the goal line to keep Makua Lani off the board.
“Those would have been nice. We have been working a lot on our defensive shape, so it’s nice when the offense happens like that,” Dong said with a laugh. “If we would have got those we wouldn’t have had to stress and check our watches every few minutes.”
Last year, Ichishita had six freshman starting on his Wildcat squad. Now, he has six experienced sophomores serving as a core, a trend he hopes to continue and add to.
“We have two very good things on our side — depth and youth,” Ichishita said.
That was on display as the Wildcats filtered through subs as they tried to tie the game in the second half. The goal never came, but nonetheless, Ichishita is optimistic about the future.
“We want to bring the soccer culture to Konawaena. I felt like last year we started it with a spark,” he said. “We want kids to be excited about playing soccer and we can see they are becoming passionate about it. We are going the right direction”