Soccer: Makua Lani advances to HHSAA D-II tourney for 2nd straight year

KAILUA-KONA — After missing out on a HHSAA state tournament berth earlier in the week after a narrow one-goal loss to eventual BIIF Division II champion Hawaii Preparatory Academy, the Makua Lani girls soccer team rebounded nicely on Saturday at the Old Airport Park soccer field, beating the KIF’s Island School 2-0 in the a DII play-in game to reach state as the No. 3 seed from the Big Island.

“The HPA game we were just crazy unlucky. For some reason the ball did not want to go into the back of the net but the girls played great,“ said Makua Lani head coach Riley Alcos. “Today, for some reason we had the same problem where the ball did want to go into the net, but we slowly worked into it and, in the end, we got the result we wanted.”

The tournament starts Wednesday and runs through Saturday on Oahu.

It’s the second consecutive trip to the tourney for the Lions. Their first game is scheduled for Wednesday at Oahu’s Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex where they will take on Seabury at 3 p.m. Hawaii Prep earned the top seed and have a bye to Thursday’s quarterfinals. BIIF runner-up Kamehameha-Hawaii plays Radford on Wednesday.

The Lions (5-8-0) had more than 20 shots on goal, and dominated the possession time against the Voyagers (4-9-0), but struggled to find the net until the midway point of the second half when Akari Shimizu put her team up 1-0. About 10 minutes later, Jewel Stroud scored the second goal for a little insurance.

“That first goal was definitely a big relief, but at the same time I believe we should have finished some goals early on,” said Shimizu, who found a lot of space on her goal. “They kind of ran away from me to mark and gave it to me.”

It took Makua Lani about 10 minutes to really get their offense going in the game, but once they did, the ball rarely traveled back across midfield.

The Lions just missed out on several goals in the first half with the ball rolling either just wide or high of the mark. The onslaught of shots continued in the second half, and after a slight change, the team began to put even more pressure on the Island School keeper.

“I had to make an adjustment just to push the pressure forward,” Alcos said. “I put Akari up top and Colby (Hardy) into the middle and it seemed to produce the high press and kept it going.”

That high pressure finally produced the first goal of the game when Shimizu took a pass off a throw in, worked her way to the 18, and then booted the ball into the bottom near post for the first goal of the game.

Shimizu had to be pulled from the game shortly after the goal because of some knee pain, however, her teammates stepped up in her absence.

Continuing to put the pressure on, Stroud soon made it a 2-0 game off an assist by Katrina Whalen.

“Jewel, who scored in the last game against Honokaa, was sucked to the middle and Katrina took the wide position,” Alcos said. “Katrina hit a negative ball to Jewel and she slotted it home.”

Alcos said the play is something the team has worked on in practice and he added that it was nice to see it used successfully in a game.

Last year Makua Lani also reached as the third seed from the BIIF but did not have to compete in a play-in game.

Makua Lani reached the play-in game with Island School by shutting out Honokaa in the league’s third place game on Thursday, earning the right to compete for a state spot.

The Lions have had some success at the state level. Last season they reached the quarterfinals before losing to Kapaa in a 2-1 game. They also picked up a second state win in the consolation bracket. They went 2-2 overall.

The road to a state championship is tough for soccer, with a lot of games being played in a short amount of time. Alcos knows it can be very taxing on the body and mind.

“Four days of playing, its tough, the legs are tired and you can’t really do much,” Alcos said. “I am hoping the girls are more conditioned this year and we can get a better result than last year.”