GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Iolani's top players include Chris Faulkner, Adam Inaba, Dyrk Teramae, Jason Keanini, Dane McCleary and Jaryd Yee.
Raiders’ goal is to win
Defense will be the key for
No. 2-seeded Iolani in the state
boys soccer championship this week
ON an Iolani squad that prides itself on buying into the team concept, it would seem that no member has sacrificed more than goalkeeper Jason Keanini, who is away from his home and family on Molokai for long stretches at a time.
Or would it be more accurate to say that Keanini is among those who truly have the best of both worlds?
"I can't ask for much more," said Keanini, who adjusted to his surroundings as well as he adjusts to the ball on a soccer field. "I made arrangements through my family to come here. I'm one of the few (neighbor island students). It's a faster pace, but I've gotten used to it. Now when I go home, it feels like I have nothing to do."
All trips to Molokai are currently on hold for Keanini, who leads the second-seeded Raiders into the Ohana Hotels and Resorts Boys State Soccer Championships. Iolani meets the winner of today's first-round matchup between Waiakea and Kaiser at 5 p.m. tomorrow at Aloha Stadium.
After an undefeated regular season in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, the Raiders (10-0-4) figure to be among the more interesting teams to track this week.
A veteran defense, led by seniors Dane McCleary, Jaryd Yee, Adam Inaba and Dyrk Teramae, has carried Iolani to date. Through 14 games this year, Keanini and the Raiders have given up only four goals.
"I knew when the job opened up that there was a real good core of kids already here, especially defensively, and we've been able to build on that," said first-year Iolani head coach Ric Miller. "And if that's what your strengths are, we're not going to try to outscore people and win the 5-4 games. We're going to win the 1-0, 2-1 kind of games, because that's our style."
The Raiders dress 10 seniors this week. Keanini is happy to be among them, having missed the first half of the regular season with an injury.
"It's our last year, and we're trying to pick up the team in every aspect and go out with a bang," he said. "The amount of time we've played together has made the difference. Most of the seniors are playing for the same club team (Honolulu Bulls Soccer Club 86), so we know each other well and we know each other's movements as well. We go a lot by instincts."
As a keeper, Keanini is more visible, but to the man, Iolani is a team that is defensive-minded.
"It's not just our fullbacks and goalie who play defense -- it's the whole team that plays defense," said Yee. "The whole team concept is to get back and hustle and play defense -- forwards, midfielders and defenders. It's been a total team effort with everyone pushing each other each day in practice."
"Offense wins games, but defense wins championships," added McCleary. "That fits us perfectly."
While the Raiders were able to go through the season without a loss, their 1-1 tie with Mid-Pacific on Feb. 3 was seen in retrospect as a wake-up call.
"That was the turning point of our season," said Inaba. "We didn't come out with enough intensity, and we were caught off guard. We've come out hard in every game since."
Added forward Chris Faulkner: "When we tied Mid-Pac, we realized we had to work even harder to attain our goals.
"They gave us a great game, and we had to really work to get a tie from that game. Everyone has the same sense of urgency when we start a game now. No one on our team has an ego -- everyone's in it for the same thing."
If anything, the Raiders are driven by an urge to attend to every detail, a characteristic passed down from the coaching staff.
As a player at Iolani, Miller was a member of the school's first two state championship teams in 1974 and '75, while assistant coach Chris Lee played on the Raiders' state title teams in 1987 and '88.
"To ask 'what if?' would be your worst nightmare," Miller said.
"If you've given it everything you can, that's all you can ask for. For the seniors, this is their last chance and they want to end in a good way. I tell them, these are memories you'll have for the rest of your life, so make them good ones. Try to do the very best that we can."
Added Faulkner: "Hopefully, at the end of the season we'll have a sense of relief from not having held anything back, from having given our all. It motivates us to work hard."
As youngsters competing in club soccer, the bulk of the Raiders senior class knew each other more as adversaries than as teammates, McCleary said, but that changed by the time all were playing for Iolani.
"We knew each other's games, but we were on opposite sides of the field, so coming together was the hard part," he said.
"But I think we've been really in sync for the last two years. Our communication among each other is good. Just being close friends has made it more of a team effort this year. We don't have guys that carry their team on their backs like they've had here in the past."
Said Teramae: "We play for each other -- that's the main thing."
