KEAAU – Kamehameha was the early aggressor and never trailed, while Waiakea played the role of counter-attacker and, ultimately, always found the equalizer.
In a matchup between quality BIIF boys soccer teams, that the teams’ hard work ended in a 2-2 draw Tuesday at Paiea Stadium left neither coach scratching their head.
“I wish we could have won, at least it’s not a loss,” Kamehameha coach Kevin Waltjen said. “All that we can do is learn what things we have to do better.”
Since his team allowed the final goal of the match, Waltjen was more apt to concentrate on his team’s miscues. He harped on a sequence of bad touches after Waiakea (2-0-1 BIIF Division I) took a corner kick. Kamehameha (2-1-1 BIIF Division II) failed to clear, and the ball found its way to John Grover, who – somewhat quiet up until that point – knocked in the tying goal with six-plus minutes remaining.
“When you make a mistake, Waiakea is going to try and capitalize,” Waltjen said. “They shove it down your throat each time.
“Bottom line, it was a great match.
The girls match also ended in a 2-2 draw, but this time Kamehameha was the team which rallied for a tie.
Kamehameha’s boys were clearly the crisper team early in its the match, scoring in the second minute when Elijah Dinkel sent a cross that Ethan Shimabukuro headed into the net.
“I’m thankful for the tie,” Waiakea coach David Urakami said.
Trailing 1-0, he gave his team a reality check at halftime.
“It didn’t look like a soccer game for us, it was more reactive,” said Urakami, who was in a light mood afterward.
“At halftime we explained to them that they weren’t being good people treating us like this,” he said with a laugh. “We’re old. We don’t want to just sit here and watch.
“They woke up in the second half.”
In the 61st minute, Kai Biegler bagged the equalizer for Waiakea, but Kamehameha quickly responded when Logan Waltjen send a throughball that Buddy Betts capitalized on for a 2-1 lead.
Kamehameha alternated between a two-forward alignment (Shimabukuro and Betts) in the first half and a one-forward look (Butts) in the second half, and it got want it wanted in each instance.
It just couldn’t get a victory, though the match ended with Kamehameha back as the aggressor searching for another lead as the clock counted down.
“As you can see, they were fighting all the way until the end,” Kevin Waltjen said.
In the girls match, Kamehameha (2-0-2) rallied from a 2-0 second-half deficit. For most of the contest, Waiakea (1-2-1) did an admirable job of bracketing Kamehameha speedster Chenoa Frederick, but she broke loose in the second half and drew a foul. From just outside the penalty box, Nanea Wong Yuen buried a free kick to tie the match with 14:46 remaining.
Jacelyn Cambra and Maya Atwal scored for Waiakea before Lei Lin Ching netted Kamehameha’s first goal.
Boys
Hilo 1, Konawaena 0: Logan Mizuba scored on a penalty kick in Kealakekua to lift the Vikings (3-1) to victory.
Jyson Breitbarth was credited with the shutout of the Wildcats (0-4).
Girls
Konawaena 2, Hilo 0: Jadyn Hanks scored in the first half on a penalty kick and Zane Garrigan added a goal in the second half as the host Wildcats (5-0) beat the Vikings (3-3) for the second time in less than a week.
Kyanah Blas collected the shutout.