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Just For Kicks Al Chase |
Trigg-Smith carrys
Tigers into NCAAs
Romy Trigg-Smith, a key defender for Princeton, and her Tiger teammates are going to the NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament finals next week in Cary, N.C. Princeton will play UCLA (17-6). This is the first time an Ivy League team has reached the final four.The Tigers, who improved to 19-2, defeated visiting Washington 3-1 Friday night. It was the 19th consecutive home victory for the Tigers and the 19 wins is the most ever for an Ivy League team.
Trigg-Smith is a junior majoring in architecture. She is a Punahou graduate.
Ends on good note
Sean Akamine ended his four-year career at Puget Sound by scoring what proved to be the winning goal in the Loggers' 4-2 victory over Linfield in the season finale. His second goal of the season was the third of the match for the 13-3-3 Loggers."I was on the back post. The ball came up the left side and Tyler Niemack passed on the ground. I wasn't very well marked and just snuck the ball into the goal about a minute into the second half," said Akamine, a biology major who will graduate in May.
The Punahou graduate played in all 79 UPS matches during his career and said he had no problem with his role.
"I would come off the bench 15 to 20 minutes in the game, then usually start the second half. I played outside right midfield and striker, but mostly midfielder," Akamine said. "I enjoyed the experience. It was a much higher level of soccer with a better level of coaching."
His scored six goals and had six assists in his career.
Akamine will continue to play for Vaiete when he is home, but that will be on vacation time. He has applied to several pharmacy graduate schools on the West Coast to further his education.
"I want to stay on the West Coast, so I'll probably be in Seattle or California. I don't want to go any further east," said Akamine who wants to return to Hawaii when it's time to join the work force.
More news of juniors
Allison Lee, a Kaiser graduate, is a junior defender for the Holy Names (Oakland, Calif.) Lady Hawks."This is her third year and I believe she is the only player left from three years ago who played the first year of soccer at Holy Names. Allison has started every women's game that Holy Names has played and is doing well," said sports information director Steve Spencer.
Tiffany Taylor came off the bench to play in 14 of 20 matches for Boston U. (13-5-2). The Terriers' season ended with a double overtime, 1-0 loss to rival Northeastern in the quarterfinals of the America East Conference tournament.
Taylor, a midfielder from Punahou, sat out last year after transferring from Washington State. She had one assist.
Jennifer Tengan scored two goals in 17 matches for the NCAA Division III California Lutheran Regals (9-6-5). The junior midfielder accomplished this on 14 shots. The Baldwin graduate's second goal was the game-winner in a 2-0 victory over La Verne on Oct. 30.
Francis Ross, a junior midfielder from Hawaii Prep, saw action in 14 matches for the Chapman Panthers (14-4-2). The kinesiology major had one of her seven shots hit the back of the net. The Panthers were eliminated by Redlands 2-1 in the first round of the NCAA Division II tournament.
Just for Kicks runs every other Sunday in the Star-Bulletin.
Al Chase can be reached at achase@starbulletin.com