Wednesday, February 6, 2002
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BRELAND Pedro is one of the key components to the Moanalua boys soccer team's success on the field this season. But he may be even more valuable as a recruiter. Say has right touch
for MenehunesThe first-year high school soccer
player has been an integral part of
Moanalua's run to the state tournamentBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comGeoffrey Say, who last played soccer in the seventh grade, was one of the players Pedro talked into joining the team this season and the senior has developed into one of the Oahu Interscholastic Association's most dangerous scorers.
"I thought with a couple more athletes, our team had a chance to go pretty far," Pedro said. "I told him if he and (goalkeeper) Jimmy (Strombach) come out we have a chance to go to states."
Pedro proved to be prophetic as Say and Strombach helped lead Moanalua to a third-place finish in the OIA Tournament and a berth in this week's AT&T Wireless Boys State Soccer Championships on Maui.
"Being my senior year I just wanted to have fun with my friends," Say said. "I didn't really expect this."
Who: Five OIA teams, three BIIF, two MIL, one ILH and one KIF. Boys state soccer
Where: War Memorial Stadium, Maui
When: Today through Saturday
The Menehunes face St. Joseph of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation today in the tournament's opening match. If they win, they'll advance to tomorrow's quarterfinals to take on second-seeded Baldwin.
The Moanalua players know they aren't considered the favorites in the tournament, but relish their role as the spoilers.
"It's good being the underdog," Pedro said. "Every game we look at it as they have something to lose. So we just go out there and play our hearts out, play like we don't have anything to lose, because we don't."
For the Menehunes to pull off an upset or two on Maui, they'll need Say to continue his postseason hot streak.
Say, an all-star shortstop with the Moanalua baseball team, finished the regular season with five goals, then caught fire in the OIA playoffs, scoring in all four of Moanalua's postseason matches.
He opened his playoff run by scoring a goal in the Menehunes' 2-0 win over Waianae in the first round.
Say found the net the next night in the quarterfinals against Campbell, scoring in the 56th minute to give Moanalua a 1-0 lead. Campbell came back to tie the match at 1-1 and send it into overtime.
The match went through two overtimes without a goal and was decided when Say booted the winning penalty kick as the Menehunes outshot the Sabers 4-3 to win the match and earn a spot in the state tournament.
"That was something else," Say said. "I felt better winning that than any other game in my life I think."
Say scored his third goal of the playoffs against Kaiser in the OIA semifinals, but the Menehunes lost 2-1. Moanalua beat Castle 3-2 in the third-place match, again winning on penalty kicks, and Say recorded yet another goal.
Say's development as a scorer allowed Pedro, who led the team with nine goals, to move back to defense. Pedro finished second in the OIA East in scoring, but now leads the defense as a sweeper.
"In the beginning of the season (Say) wasn't getting into the hang of it," Moanalua coach Spencer Machado said. "Then all of a sudden he just bloomed and it came at the right time."
With Say becoming a threat as a scorer and Strombach, who had never played soccer before this season, sealing off the goal, Machado calls the duo "the missing links in the chain" for the Menehunes.
"If they had one more year, they would be awesome," Machado said. "If they came out last year, they would be tearing up the league."
It took both Say, the son of state legislator Calvin Say, and Strombach a while to get into the flow, and the Menehunes struggled to a 1-3 start in the OIA East. But after a 6-0 loss to Kaiser, Moanalua would lose only one match the rest of the season.
"They didn't know how to play the game, but now we're peaking at the right time," Pedro said. "We're clicking now. We don't have all the greatest players, but we click good as a team."
Say, Strombach and Scott Batula are splitting time between soccer and baseball practice this month. Say earned a reputation as one of the state's top defensive shortstops last year with his range and penchant for spectacular stops. His nimble footwork on the diamond helped him make the adjustment to soccer, but he credits his teammates for his scoring outburst.
"I'm not that good, it's luck I think," Say said. "A lot of these guys help me out, they taught me how to play. ... It's all because of these guys, they pass me the ball. And the defense especially, they kick it down and I just run and that's all.
"These guys have been great accepting us to their team," he added, "We never played soccer and these guys are year-round soccer players. I have to thank all of these guys accepting me, Scott and Jimmy to be part of this team.
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