KEAAU – Win, lose or draw, Konawaena coach Kaua Wall has a tendency only to look ahead after matches, often focusing on the Wildcats getting better at 50-50 balls.
Well, she can put that talk to rest for a while.
The Wildcats were 100 percent all in Wednesday night.
Beating three-time defending champion Hilo to the ball most of the match, Jadyn Hanks and Konawaena cut down the Vikings, stopping them short of laying their claim to the BIIF’s greatest four-year soccer run.
Hanks owned the right flank at times, and she scored in the 47th minute as Wildcats captured their first Division I title since 2015 with a 1-0 win at Paiea Stadium.
“I don’t now who to single out, because every single player did amazing,” Wall said.
Start with Hanks, who seemed to catch the fleet-footed Vikings off guard with her speed.
When she wasn’t creating scoring chances, she was stopping them, diving to block a Hilo shot late.
“We’re just excited,” Hanks said. “At the half I felt like we had it. We were working very hard for it.”
At the end, there were no shortage of screams being heard from the Wildcats’ fans and players, and car horns were heard honking as they left the school grounds.
Konawaena showed early on it was here to compete and was the Vikings’ equal, but on paper this is a monumental upset.
A coronation was called off.
The Vikings’ core group of eight seniors entered the night with only two career BIIF losses – none to the Wildcats – and Hilo (13-1-1) had allowed only two goals this season.
Both teams advanced to the state tournament, but Hilo will be relegated to a first-round match, which they are to host Monday.
“All season we’ve been working on peaking in the postseason and our eyes have been set on this game,” Wall. “I think that really showed. We worked so hard. They believed in themselves.”
And with that, Konawaena went hootin’ and hollerin’ into the night back to Kealakekua.
