The Kona Crush U18 boys were at a bit of a disadvantage, but it didn’t show. The Crush made a valiant run at the Davis Legacy College Showcase, before falling in double overtime in the championship game against Blues FC 2000B from Northern California.
The team from the Big Island was, on average, one to three years younger than most of the players on the teams they faced, which also resulted in height and weight disadvantages as well.
In the finals against Blues FC, Kona went up 1-0 after the youngest player on the team — Kohala’s Shiloh Perez — scored in the first half. The Crush then held off what Kona Crush director of coaching Vince La Porta called a “talented and far larger opponent” for most of the second half. However, Blues FC started to pump the ball long into Kona’s box as time wound down, looking for a bounce inside the box.
They got that bounce with four minutes to go to tie the game at 1-1.
With the match in in extra time, both teams nearly played to penalty kicks, but Blues FC who got a free kick from 30 yards out with two minutes to play and took advantage putting the ball into the back of the net off a header into the far post.
“The boys gave everything they had in six games, over three days, to make the championship of the tournament,” La Porta said in an email. “It was an astounding display, not only defeating opponents, but also playing a better, more advanced style of the game than our opponents as well.”
Kona opened the tournament by going 2-1 in group play. Advancing to the quarterfinals, the Crush then defeated Eastside FC 2-1.
“The win against Eastside is a big deal,” said Kona Crush director of coaching Vince La Porta in an email. “That team is ranked N0. 2 in the state of Washington, having recently lost their state championship in the finals. They are also a 1999 boys age group team — one year older than our age group. To say the least, they were shocked when they lost.”
In the semifinals against Dublin United (Northern California) the Crush put up possibly their best performance of the tourney, winning 3-2.
Kona went up by one goal twice in the game, only to see Dublin come back to tie.
Goalkeeper Emmett Alcos, who plays his high school soccer with Makua Lani, made a tough save to keep the game knotted at 2-2 when he went low to his left on a point blank shot from eight yards out. Hawaii Preparatory Academy’s Toby Balaam then scored the winning goal with five minutes to play.
“After the game, their coach approached our team and congratulated us and let us know how impressed he was with our team’s style of play, technical ability, and specifically how well the team communicated on the field as a group to manage the little dynamics of the match,” La Porta said. “Competing with only athleticism only takes you so far on the mainland. Players need high soccer IQ as well to truly succeed.”
La Porta added that the team definitely turned heads.
“We heard that people were talking about the ‘team from the Big Island’ all tournament long.”
