Friday, February 1, 2002
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After surviving a process more arduous than the new security procedures at the airport, the Kamehameha boys soccer team finally earned its ticket to Maui for the state tournament yesterday. Warriors grasp
By Jason Kaneshiro
ILH title
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comThe Warriors scored a 3-1 win over Iolani at St. Louis School's field to capture the Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship and a berth in next week's AT&T Boys Soccer Championships in Wailuku.
"It's been a roller-coaster ride," Kamehameha coach Andrew Ah New said.
Kamehameha successfully cleared several obstacles on the road to the league title. The Warriors closed the regular season with a tie against Iolani and a victory over Punahou last week to force a championship game with the Raiders.
To make matter worse, 10 Warrior players were suffering from cold symptoms during the match.
"It's really sweet," Kamehameha junior Brandon Tario said. "A lot of us have never been here before. We knew we worked hard all season, we didn't want to lose it now. We had a chance and we just wanted to take this one."
Iolani must clear one more roadblock to get to the state tournament. The Raiders will take on the second-place team from the Maui Interscholastic League at 2 p.m. Saturday. The game is scheduled to be played at Iolani. If the field is too wet, the match will be moved to St. Louis.
Kamehameha controlled the action in the first half and took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Kaui Wong off an assist from Kahai Macdonald. The Warriors extended their lead early in the second half when an Iolani player inadvertently knocked the ball into the Raiders' goal.
Iolani cut the deficit to 2-1 eight minutes into the second half when Duke Hashimoto got behind the Kamehameha defense and broke away for a goal. Iolani had an opportunity to tie a minute later, but the shot went wide.
Kamehameha put the game out of reach at the 32-minute mark when Tario found the back of the net from 20 yards out.
"We knew they were going to come out hard after they scored," Tario said. "We had to pick it up, and everybody played big. I got the ball on the side, I had my chance, so I just took my shot."
Iolani coach Myles Arakawa credited Kamehameha's intensity and aggressiveness in dictating the action in yesterday's match.
"A lot of what we did today was because of what they did," Arakawa said. "For us to do well, we have to take the initiative. We have to go out and do what we want to do, and we didn't do much of that today.
"(The Raiders) are young and they're trying to play hard. But at this level, it's not who plays harder, it's who plays smarter. And we really didn't play very smart."
ILH
Varsity girls
Kamehameha 2, Mid-Pacific 1
Punahou vs. Pac-Five, rescheduled
Goals scored -- KS: Keo Eaton, Jessica Domingo; MPI: Shannon Nishi.
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