Hawaii Tribune-Herald
There was somewhat of a lighthearted disagreement between coaches in the preseason regarding the BIIF Division II boys soccer favorite.
Honokaa coach Maurice Miranda targeted Kamehameha as the team to beat, while Warriors coach Kevin Waltjen would have none of that, in part because he was entering his first season at the helm.
So far, it looks like Miranda was right.
Buddy Betts netted a hat trick, and Jon DeMotta and Rylan Respicio each scored twice Wednesday at Paiea Stadium in Keaau as Kamehameha shut out the Dragons 8-0 for their seventh victory in a row.
“We’re executing the way we want to,” Waltjen said. “We had a slow start, and little errors here and there, but the result was good.
“We’re spreading the ball to the outside and looking for the cross in the middle.”
If Honokaa (2-4) isn’t the greatest threat to Kamehameha (7-1), then it’s Makua Lani (3-5), a team the Warriors beat 8-1 on Saturday.
However, Waltjen cautioned against drawing too many conclusions from the runaway score Wednesday.
“We had a rough start, because of the way Honokaa defended us,” he said. “Maurice is a smart coach and we had to adjust.”
The Warriors like to use two wing backs to make runs up the field, but Honokaa was able to thwart that strategy early and make counterattacks, and the Dragons also utilized a sweeper to negate throughballs.
‘The other thing that was hard to tell from the score was they got red card in the second half and had to play a man down,” Waltjen said. “Honokaa is a good team to play because of the way they set up defensively.”
Kamehameha scored two goals on penalty kicks, the first off the foot of Respicio after David Erskine was fouled by Honokaa’s goalkeeper in the penalty box.
Ahead 2-0 at halftime, the Warriors broke it open.
On the play that resulted in the red card, Betts was fouled from behind and then knocked in his PK.
DeMotta was credited with three assists, including a goal by Tyler Waltjen, and he scored on a direct kick as well as off an assist by Logan Waltjen.
Betts completed his hat trick after taking a pass from Israel Bowden.
Jameson Sato was credited with the shutout.
Hawaii Prep 6, Makua Lani 0: Big Padrnos scored twice and Toby Balaam, Conor Hunt, Chris Whitfield and Sihkea Jim had a goal apiece as visiting Ka Makani (7-0) maintain its perfect record.
Goalkeepers Stormer Horton and Zane Willman shared in the shutout.
