It was a good day for the Big Island Division II boys soccer teams in Oahu as Hawaii Preparatory Academy, Honokaa and Kamehameha advanced to the HHSAA semifinals on Thursday at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.
No. 1 seed Hawaii Prep led the charge with a 5-0 dismantling of Waialua. Kamehameha upset the No. 2 seed of the tournament with a 2-1 win over Waimea of the KIF. Honokaa also pulled off an upset of the No. 3 seed, but it took overtime for the Dragons to pull out the 2-1 win against Roosevelt.
This is the third consecutive year that three Big Island teams have advanced to the semifinals.
“It really says a lot about Big Island soccer that all three teams advanced,” Honokaa head coach Maurice Miranda said.
Kamehameha coach Mario Patino echoed the same sentiment and Ka Makani coach Richard Braithwaite said that it is pretty clear, “the Big Island is playing good soccer at the state level.”
Mid-Pacific was the only non-BIIF school to reach the state semifinals in 2014 and 2015, going on to win the title both times. The Owls are now in Division I, which opens up the field. Taking Mid-Pac’s spot in the semifinals this year will be No. 4 seed Pac-5, which defeated Seabury Hall, 6-2.
Pac-5 will play Hawaii Prep in the semifinals today at 3 p.m., while Honokaa and Kamehameha face each other in an all-BIIF game at 1 p.m.
Both Honokaa and Kamehameha are looking forward to their rematch this year. Last year, the Warriors defeated the Dragons 3-1 to advance to the state championship game. However, this season Honokaa has had the advantage, beating Kamehameha 4-0 during the regular season and 2-0 in the BIIF semifinals.
“We are looking forward to playing Honokaa,” Patino said. “We know what their scoring potential is and we have solidified some weaknesses we needed to fix. We were hoping to see them at states and plan on giving them a good match.”
Miranda added that his team too, knows what Kamehameha will bring.
“They have improved a lot since the beginning of the season, but so have we,” Miranda added.
The Dragons reached the semifinals thanks to a goal in the opening minute of overtime against Roosevelt.
With the game tied at 1-1, Honokaa’s Sean Simmerman dropped a heal pass back to Lewi Higa, who attempted a shot. The ball was deflected back to Higa, who then set up the golden goal score by Keaweiwi Pilayo.
Roosevelt took an early lead in the game, scoring on a header at the 15 minute mark. The Dragons managed to tie the game on a penalty kick by Kyle Ohta. The penalty came when a Roosevelt defender put his hands up to intentionally block a shot. He was given a red card, which allowed the Dragons to have a one player advantage for the rest of the game.
“The game was what we expected,” Miranda said. “They have skilled players in the middle of field and a lot of team speed, but we matched up well against them. This was one of those games that could have gone either way.”
In Kamehameha’s semifinal game, the Warriors jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Tyler Waltjen. The score came on a combination play. Kamehameha attacked the middle and then slid to the wing. The ball was sent back over center where Waltjen made his kick.
After Waimea tied the game, the Warriors used a combo play to score the eventual winning goal. Kamehameha penetrated up the middle to get to the outside of the 18. Liam Kenoi took the kick and put a good angle on the ball, putting it inside the far post .
“It was a very good match with Waimea and a very physical game,” Patino said.
Against Waialua, Hawaii Prep showed why it is the No. 1 seed in the tourney with a 5-0 victory. Justin Perry scored two of the five goals, but he also made his presence known on plays where he didn’t find the back of the net.
“Justin did a great job of pressing down the right flank,” Braithwaite said. “He is very strong and both of goals were very nice and came off two beautifully played balls across. He also created a good five or six chances to score by being a bull and fighting for tackles.”
Also scoring in the game for Hawaii Prep were Ghar Pautz, Braden Kojima and Iian Naibryf. Kojima played well in the midfield.
“He did a good job of switching the field,” Braithwaite said. “A lot of our goals go through him.”
While the BIIF Division II soccer teams prospered on Thursday, Division I saw its only hope of advancing in the championship bracket end when Kealakehe fell to Kapolei 2-1 in overtime.
The game ended on a controversial call inside the box in the opening minute of the OT. Kapolei’s Shandon Hopeau rushed the ball into the box but was tripped up by James Caudell. On the resulting penalty kick, Hopeau went left with the ball as Kealakehe keeper Greyson Moore guessed the opposite direction, ending the game.
“It looked like he never touched him,” Kealekehe coach Urs Leuenberger said of the penalty. “The ball was already gone and the guy took a clever dive, but I can see how the ref would have thought it looked like a penalty from his vantage point. It’s funny that the game would end on a penalty kick with both teams playing that hard.”
Kealakehe took a 1-0 lead in the first minute of the match when Ari Mench scored on a header off a corner kick by Tate Whitney. Hopeau scored the equalizing goal in the 13th minute off what Leuenberger said was defensive miscommunication, something he added that the team cleared up at halftime.
The loss was a tough one for the BIIF champions who’s heart was never in question by the coach.
“They left it all out on the field,” Leuenberger said. “Now we will get on another track and focus on reaching the fifth place game. The boys are disappointed but I hope to have them ready to represent the Big Island and have another great game.”
In the consolation bracket, Hilo defeated Moanalua 3-2. Kalei Tolentino-Perry scored twice for the Vikings and Riley Patterson scored one goal.
