Kauai, HPA Two neighbor-island soccer teams refused to be kicked around yesterday in the opening round of the 2003 Meadow Gold Boys State Soccer Championship Tournament.
advance
The two neighbor-island schools
join Kamehameha and Pearl City
in the quarterfinals of the
boys state soccer tournamentBy Nick Abramo
nabramo@starbulletin.comKauai and Hawaii Preparatory Academy advanced to today's quarterfinals with victories over Oahu opponents at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park.
The Red Raiders held off the Moanalua Menehunes 3-2, while Ka Makani beat the Castle Knights 3-1. In other first-round action, Kamehameha routed Roosevelt 5-0 and Pearl City defeated Honokaa 3-0.
"It was a great start to the tournament for us," Kauai coach Mark Brandeburg said. "Our kids came out wanting to win and played hard against a very good Moanalua team."
Goalkeeper Justin Arakaki and fullback Todd Yamamoto saved the Kauai victory in the final minute.
Arakaki jumped on the ball inside the box just as the Menehunes' Aaron Miura was about to unload a shot. The ball squirted to Colin Morikawa about 12 yards out, but his attempt was knocked away by Yamamoto.
"I tried to place it into the right side, like a pass into the goal, but I hit it too soft and he (Yamamoto) was able to kick it away," Morikawa said. "As soon as it happened, I felt like I had just lost the game for our team."
Seconds later, the referee blew the whistle to end the game.
The Kauai Interscholastic Federation champion Red Raiders (8-1) move on to play two-time defending state champion Mililani (11-0-1) tonight at 7 in the park's stadium facility.
Kauai's Mason Chan caught the Menehunes off guard twice. He scored 1 1/2 minutes into the game for a 1-0 lead and struck again one minute into the second half for a 2-1 edge.
"We lucked out with a couple of goals when their defense didn't clear it good enough," Chan said.
"We know Mililani is good, but we'll do our best. It's the same as any other game."
Chan's first goal was a tap-in of Chris Colacino's shot that had already gotten by Moanalua goalie Jonathan Baba. Chan's second goal came off J-Paul Hornstine's corner kick.
Miura was tripped in the box and gave the Menehunes a 1-1 tie 27 minutes into the game on a penalty kick that hit the upper right corner.
Twenty-four minutes after Chan's second goal, Koji Nakaya's shot during a scramble found the net and put the Red Raiders ahead 3-1.
But any thoughts of an easy Kauai finish were dashed in the 79th minute when Nick Lovan cut the lead to 3-2 by heading in Kurtis Nakamura's cross.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kauai's Koji Nakaya pushed the ball upfield in front of Moanalua's Landon Watanabe yesterday. Kauai won 3-2.
Moanalua coach Spencer Machado was frank about the reasons behind the loss.
"We had a young goalie, a freshman, and he made young goalie mistakes," Machado said. "But the game was back and forth. Kauai really hurt us with quick goals to start each half. Basically, those two mistakes were the difference.
"Kauai is a decent team, but I don't think they'll go too far."
Brandeburg and the Red Raiders' task is clear.
"Mililani is a tough and talented team," he said. "We'll be ready to play and we expect to win. We'll try to stop their three-peat."
Moanalua (10-4-1) plays Roosevelt (8-6-1) in a consolation game today.
Hawaii Prep 3, Castle 1: Trel Mangarin's two first-half goals provided a large boost for Ka Makani.
Kory Muraoka kept the Knights in it with a first-half goal, but J Park scored for Hawaii Prep in the second half for what proved to be an insurmountable two-goal lead.
"We came out real determined and should have been up 3-0 at the half instead of ahead just 2-1," Hawaii Prep coach Stephen Perry said. "Midfielders Jared Chapman and Andre Laguire continued creating chances for us and Trel really set the tone. Mike Kopra was a horse for us at sweeper, too."
Ka Makani (15-2) move on to face Interscholastic league of Honolulu champion Punahou (12-0-2) today at 3.
"We know the success of Punahou," Perry said. "We're huge underdogs. We hope to go into the stadium relaxed. We might be tired after today's game, but we want the challenge. We feel like we're a good team, so we might as well play against one of the best teams."
Castle (9-2-2) squares off against Honokaa (10-6) in a consolation game today at 3.
Kamehameha 5, Roosevelt 0: Makana Prothero got the Warriors off on the right foot, scoring in the 22nd and 26th minutes for a quick 2-0 lead.
Russell Wassman, Kekoa Smith and Cody Takata also notched goals for Kamehameha.
"We're treating the tournament as a new season," Warriors coach Andrew Ah New said. "At the end of the regular season, we ran into a scoring slump. It played on the kids' minds, so now we can forget it and move on."
Kamehameha (10-4-1) takes on Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion Hilo (15-1) today at 1.
"Hilo is usually a strong, quick team," Perry said. "The top four seeds (Mililani, Punahou, Hilo and Baldwin) are the favorites, but all games are one-time deals, so it's anybody's game."
Pearl City 3, Honokaa 0: The Chargers (10-2-1) advanced on goals by Keone Peiper, Roger Lao and Jerome Valdriz.
They'll play Maui Interscholastic League champion Baldwin (10-0) today at 5.
"It wasn't the prettiest game," Pearl City coach Scott Keopuhiwa said. "We weren't as focused as I would have liked. Some of that has to do with coming off that intense game Saturday (a 1-0 loss to Mililani in the OIA final). But we had enough to get a win.
"Baldwin is a really tough team and they've got a real major force in midfielder Keola Nobriga. We'll have to deal with him, but I think it will be a good game."
All games at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex State boys soccer
Seeded teams
1. Mililani (11-0-1), 2. Punahou (12-0-2), 3. Baldwin (10-0), 4. Hilo (15-1).Yesterday
Kamehameha 5, Roosevelt 0
Kauai 3, Moanalua 2
Hawaii Prep 3, Castle 1
Pearl City 3, Honokaa 0
Today
Game 5: Roosevelt vs. Moanalua, 1 p.m.
Game 6: Castle vs. Honokaa, 3 p.m.
Game 7: Hilo vs. Kamehameha, 1 p.m.
Game 8: Punahou vs. Hawaii Prep, 3 p.m.
Game 9: Baldwin vs. Pearl City, 5 p.m.
Game 10: Mililani vs. Kauai, 7 p.m.Tomorrow
Game 11: Losers of Games 7 and 10, 2 p.m.
Game 12: Losers of Games 8 and 9, 4 p.m.
Game 13: Winners of Games 8 and 9, 6 p.m.
Game 14: Winners of Games 7 and 10, 8 p.m.Saturday
Game 15: Winners of Games 5 and 6, 2 p.m.
Game 16: Winners of Games 11 and 12, 4 p.m.
Game 17: Losers of Games 13 and 14, 6 p.m.
Game 18: Winners of Games 13 and 14, 8 p.m.
Hawaii School Web Sites
