Stephens Media Senior Robert Connors scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season at Old Kona Airport Park for the defending Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II champion Dragons, who capped a perfect Big Island Interscholastic Federation regular
Stephens Media
Senior Robert Connors scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season at Old Kona Airport Park for the defending Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II champion Dragons, who capped a perfect Big Island Interscholastic Federation regular season with a 4-0 win over Makua Lani.
Junior Clayton Robinson staked Honokaa to a 1-0 halftime lead, taking a pass from sophomore Justin Warren inside the 18-yard box before spinning around a defender and scoring his fourth goal of the season.
The Dragons then put the match out of reach in a two-minute span midway through the second half, with Connors taking a cross from Josh Tobias and chipping the ball over the Lions goalkeeper in the 59th minute and senior Lloyd Edwards heading in a throw-in from senior Dylan Shiraki in the 60th.
Connors scored the second of his two goals in stoppage time off an assist from senior Chayce Moniz.
Senior Maikai Coelho blanked the Lions (6-6-1) in net.
The eight-team BIIF Division II tournament begins Tuesday, and officials at Honokaa were informed this week that eighth-seeded Kohala (2-12) will forfeit a quarterfinal match at top-seeded Honokaa, giving the Dragons a spot in Thursday’s semifinals.
Honokaa (14-0) will face the winner of Tuesday’s 3 p.m. quarterfinal between Makua Lani and host Konawaena (6-5-2).
Christian Liberty 7, Hawaii Academy of Arts & Science 0: Sophomore Louis Moylan netted a hat trick and sophomore Nakaya Kerr added his team-leading 12th and 13th goals as the Canefire secured the No. 2 seed in the Division II tournament.
The contest was played at Christian Liberty’s campus in Keaau, but because of field conditions, the Canefire (7-3-3) and No. 7 Kamehameha (4-8-1) will play Tuesday’s 3 p.m. quarterfinal at Amauulu Field in Wainaku.
Seniors Preston Cawagas and Ian Clark also added goals, and goalkeepers Taylor Benevente and Keanu Bergfeld shared in the shutout of Na Naia (0-12-1).
The Canefire and Hawaii Prep (8-5) each finished the regular season with 24 points, but Christian Liberty earned the higher seed by virtue of their 4-3 victory against the Ka Makani on Jan. 11 in Wainaku.
The No. 3 Ka Makani will host No. 6 Parker (5-8) at 3 p.m. Tuesday in the first round.
Waiakea 5, Keaau 0: Senior Cameron Boucher scored a hat trick as the host Warriors finished the regular season on a seven-game unbeaten streak.
Seniors James Yamane and Alika Carriaga also scored for Warriors (9-3-1), who are the third seed in the BIIF Division I semifinals and will play No. 2 Hilo (11-1-1) on Wednesday at Hilo Bayfront with a berth in the Hawaii High School Athletic Association tournament on the line.
Boucher finished the regular season with a team-high 22 goals.
Senior goalkeeper RJ Iyo shut out the Cougars (3-10), who visit top-seeded Kealakehe (11-1-1) in the other semifinal at 3 p.m. Wednesday for a state berth.
The Division I final is 7 p.m. Saturday at Keaau High.
The Vikings beat the Warriors on Jan. 5, winning 2-1 in a physical match that was played on a Waiakea field that had yet to recover from heavy December rain.
“It was a horrible game,” Waiakea coach David Urakami said. “Hopefully, this time it will be better.”
The Tribune-Herald contributed to this report.
