If Hawaii Prep’s boys soccer team should go to another shootout this week at the state tournament, first-year coach James Berry will turn his back on Ka Makani.
He absolutely won’t watch penalty kicks.
“I’m not going to lie, as rule, I never watch,” Berry said after HPA survived PKs last week against Hilo in the BIIF final. “I can’t stand it. I think I’ve seen maybe three PKs in my entire career.”
At this point, whether he’s watching or not, he’s got good reason to think HPA will come through in the clutch.
Under the watch of seniors such as Jake Schneider and Sihkea Jim, Ka Makani will go for a unique bookend at the HHSAA boys soccer championships as they try to add a second Division I title to the two they won in Division II in 2016 and ‘17.
HPA is obviously talented, but Ka Makani never shy away from the moment, not only performing on the big stage but also the big spots that then present themselves.
“That you can’t teach,” Berry of his team’s clutch gene. “That’s (about) being here before, several times. A lot of these guys have been there before. Hats off to them (for handling pressure). That was heavy duty.”
HPA has suffered only one loss and two ties the past two-plus seasons, but its past three BIIF postseason victories have come in either overtime and penalty kicks, and its 2018 state semifinal victory against King Kekaulike seemed destined for OT until Schneider scored in the 78th minute.
“Honestly, it’s our grit,” Jim said. “I think we have that. And overall our chemistry. We’ve been playing together for years, from club to just kicking around and having fun at home. We just always are together, and it’s just a lot easier that way.”
Some may not associate the word grit with the well-priced private school in Waimea, but Jim would say this: think again.
“I know that people think that HPA is one way, but there is a whole spectrum of people that go to HPA, from people on financial aid to people who pay for other students,” Jim said. “Basically, I feel like generalizing HPA, it takes away aspects. Anyone along the line on our team can have grit, and everyone wants to have grit so they can win and succeed at anything.”
One season after HPA and Baldwin tied 0-0 in the state final to become the first non-Oahu teams to conquer the D-I tournament, Ka Makani are back as the first non-Oahu school to be seeded No. 1. HPA draws Iolani – which blasted Kaiser 4-0 in Monday’s first round – at 5 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals at Oahu’s Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.
HPA is sure to have a target on its back this time, but would it have it any other way?
“There is a lot of pressure put into us,” junior Conor Hunt said. “We have this expectation that this is HPA soccer, we’re supposed to win games. It’s not always like that, we have to prove who we are.
“We do our thing. Playing through the middle, getting everyone connected.”
Schneider gets many of the accolades – and with good reason, he has 41 goals and counting – but Hunt has been the man of the hour in the past two matches,
He scored the golden goal in overtime against Waiakea in the BIIF semifinals, and then he almost did it again in the final. His would-be winner was called off because of an offsides, but it was Hunt who converted on his PK to clinch the championship.
“Conor is the unsung hero,” Berry said. “Jake does take so much pressure off of Conor, Brendan (Moynahan) and Riley (Hiatt). Those are the three midfielders who have been the work engine for us the whole season.”
Many are ready to call New England’s Tom Brady the greatest quarterback of all-time after leading the Patriots to their sixth Super Bowl victory. But Hunt, whose family is from the San Francisco area, would probably vote differently.
“One one of my idols is Joe Montana,” he said. “When (the 49ers’) Montana played in the Super Bowl, he’s cool. He does his thing, and that’s what I do. I love the way he stays cool when the moment is big.”
In Berry’s eyes, there are not many cooler customers than Jim, the most underrated player in the state in his coach’s estimation
“Undeniable that he is an absolute game-changer,” Berry said. “We told Sihkea to play a different game (in the BIIF final), and he clicked, no problem.”
It was former coach Rich Braithwaite who put Jim at fullback and hailed him as a team leader practically before his freshman season began.
Offensively, Jim seems to turn his game up a notch at states. He scored a goal in the 2016 state title game win, 3-1, against Kamehameha-Hawaii, and a year later he came up with the golden goal as HPA repeated with an overtime victory against Saint Louis.
“I’m lucky to be a versatile player and lucky to have a team that allows me to do that,” Jim said.
He spent much of the BIIF final trying to hold down Vikings striker Riley Patterson, but when it came to penalty kicks Jim was Berry’s second selection to shoot after Schneider, and Jim promptly buried his opportunity into the net.
“I think whenever I get into a tight situation, I just look at it as how it ends is how it ends,” said Jim, who has signed to play at the Colorado School of Mines. “After it’s over, I go about the rest of mile life. But it does help to feel happy that you win.”
Berry would just prefer HPA secure wins this week without having to go to PKs.
“I’ve got two coaches that watch for me,” he said, ” and one basically looked at his blood pressure on his watch.”