Stephens Media Honokaa coach Maurice Miranda recognizes the difficulty in being emotionally prepared for a match after a team comes off arguably its biggest win of the season. ADVERTISING But Miranda’s Dragons didn’t have that problem on Tuesday. Chayce Moniz,
Stephens Media
Honokaa coach Maurice Miranda recognizes the difficulty in being emotionally prepared for a match after a team comes off arguably its biggest win of the season.
But Miranda’s Dragons didn’t have that problem on Tuesday.
Chayce Moniz, Justin Warren and Lloyd Edwards each scored goals in Waimea as Honokaa defeated Hawaii Prep 3-0 on Tuesday in a Big Island Interscholastic Federation boys soccer match.
The Dragons, coming off Friday’s 1-0 win over previously undefeated Kealakehe, improved to 12-0, while HPA dropped to 8-4.
“It’s hard to come off an emotional game like that and then get yourself up,” Miranda said of his team’s win over Kealakehe. “But they just go about their business.”
For Miranda, conducting business means creating 20 to 30 scoring chances a game.
The Dragons outshot Hawaii Prep 24-9.
Richard Braithwaite, who took over Ka Makani’s head coaching duties from Keawe Liu on Friday, estimated Honokaa possessed the ball about 75 percent of the time.
“We have to keep the central midfield from eating us alive,” said Braithwaite, who said he could not disclose reasons for HPA’s coaching change.
Miranda credited midfielders Moniz, Robert Connors and Nino Quijano for keeping HPA from distributing the ball to Ka Makani junior forward Martynas Golubovskis, who has scored 17 goals this season.
“We talked about watching (Golubovskis), but by and large, they couldn’t get service to him,” Miranda said.
Moniz, a senior, gave Honokaa the lead in the 10th minute, unleashing a left-footed shot from about 15 yards for his 10th goal of the season.
About 10 minutes later, Warren, a sophomore, scored his eighth goal on a penalty kick.
Edwards, a senior, capped the scoring by rifling a 20-yard shot into the upper right corner of the net for his second goal.
HPA’s best scoring chance came on a penalty kick in the 43rd minute, when junior Kepa Police’s shot sailed just over the crossbar.
Braithwaite said his team did well to win balls in the air, with senior sweeper Kawika Wise leading the charge.
“(Honokaa) put 30 balls in the box, and he won 25 of them,” Braithwaite said of Wise.
Keaau 4, Hawaii Academy of Arts & Science 0: Junior Talon Ota scored his team-high sixth goal, and junior Matthew Shimabukuro tallied his fifth in Pahoa as the Cougars improved to 3-9.
Senior Adrian Martinez added his fourth goal, while senior Makana Gomez found the net for the first time.
Senior Viliami Fahiua shut out Na Naia (0-11-1) in goal.
