One of the benefits of rarely losing is it’s easy to remember the losses – and the draws.
With that in mind, Hilo’s girls soccer team came out with a healthy work rate Saturday against Hawaii Prep.
Purpose eventually gave way to precision, and soon the enough the Vikings were flying around the pitch at Hilo Bayfront, using two goals from Miya Clarke and another from Jordyn Pacheco to knock Ka Makani from the rank of BIIF unbeaten with a 3-0 victory.
“We were definitely out to, not rebound, but to prove ourselves from the first game,” Pacheco said.
The junior-laden Vikings (7-1-1 Red Division) have lost only two matches the past two-plus seasons – not three Pacheco was quick to point out when asked after the match – in winning consecutive BIIF Division I titles, with the second defeat coming Dec. 2 in a 3-1 loss to HPA (7-1-0 Red).
Hilo coach Skee Saplan admitted that setback was sour and stung, but beyond revenge he was pleased his team played sound soccer, as opposed to the “kick ball” he witnessed in a 1-1 tie against Konawaena two weeks ago.
“That was our message: If we just take care of the ball and take care of the game plan, the opportunities will come,” he said. “You can see they came in bunches.”
The loss wasn’t all that damaging for HPA. Ka Makani already secured the top seed as they seek their ninth consecutive BIIF Division II title. With three matches remaining, the four-time HHSAA champion is still in line for the automatic HHSAA tournament berth that goes to the outright regular-season Red Division winner.
Coach Stephen Perry noted his team was missing five defensive players, while some who did take the field seemed missing in action at times
“We didn’t show up,” he said. “We had about five girls that worked hard the whole game, and I give them a lot of credit.
“We still need to battle hard. It’s good in the sense that maybe some will work better now. You have to learn from mistakes.”
Clarke, the reigning BIIF Division I Player of the Year, and Pacheco are a pair of fleet-footed forwards and prolific scorers, and they often give opponents fits by chargind down the flanks or running down throughballs.
On Saturday, two of their goals came after fullbacks provided the initial build-up on controlled runs.
In the 26th minute, Glory Medeiros ventured down the left wing and crossed to Pacheco, who scored from 15 yard out.
“We’ve been working on getting wide to run the flanks and drop-cross it in and finishing on the ground, and I think we really did it today,” Pacheco said. “Our motto is put in the work, and the goals will take care of themselves.”
Clarke gave Hilo a 2-0 lead early in the second half, and Booboo Corpuz made the initial play on the third goal, controlling the ball on the left wing and feeding Alyeemomi Amaral, who crossed to Clarke, who scored from 10 yards out on the right side.
The way Hilo was possessing the ball and creating opportunities, HPA goalkeeper Maia Mills did well to keep the Vikings to three goals.
“Kick ball is kicking it over the defense,” Pacheco said. “Today’s game was more possessive. Finding each others’ feet and making the other team work hard so we can take advantage of them when the’re tired.”
After an initial flurry of traffic by HPA , goalkeeper Saydee Bacdad had a relatively uneventful match in securing her seventh shutout of the season. In the second half, Bacdad leaped to get a hand on Jenna Perry’s blast and redirected it over the crossbar.
If the Vikings can win out – they finish the regular season with Kealakehe and Waiakea – they can do no worse than a tie with Konawaena atop D-I and would likely win the tiebreaker for the top seed since the Wildcats are competing in the White Division.
“Good intensity, high intensity,” Saplan said. “Good conditioning for them. The desire, the passion, everybody wanted to win today.”
Boys
Hawaii Prep 2, Hilo 1: Ka Makani remained the BIIF’s last unbeaten, getting a go-ahead goal from Conor Hunt with about 10 minutes remaining.
Jack Mann scored for the Vikings (4-3), while David Welch-Keliihoomalu scored for HPA (7-0-0), which hadn’t played a match since Dec. 20.
“We’ve been missing a big portion of our team for a while, so different guys are stepping up,” HPA coach Rich Braithwaite said.
