By JOE FERRARO
Stephens Media
It didn’t get off to the quick start it wanted, but Hawaii Prep’s girls soccer team still performed well enough to gain something that will help them for the remainder of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II tournament: rest.
Sophomore Nanea Tavares scored her team-high 18th goal of the season, and four other HPA players also found the net as Ka Makani defeated Makua Lani 5-0 in the state quarterfinals Thursday on Oahu.
Three-time defending Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion HPA (14-1) earned a spot in today’s 3 p.m. state semifinals, where it will play Kauai Interscholastic Federation champion Kauai (8-0-1) at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.
The Lions (8-8), the BIIF’s No. 4 seed, dropped into the event’s fifth-place bracket, where it will play Oahu Interscholastic Association runner-up Kalaheo (6-6-2) at 3 p.m. today.
After Tavares scored in the 26th minute, junior midfielder Jessica Benioni gave her team some breathing room, firing a low, hard shot into the upper left corner of the net for her fourth goal in the 35th minute.
HPA coach Steve Perry then substituted players liberally the rest of the way against a Makua Lani team Ka Makani had beaten twice before Thursday’s state quarterfinal.
“It’s never easy to perform in all three games,” Perry said of facing the Lions. “We came out a little sluggish, but we got into it (and) started creating opportunities.
“(Benioni’s goal) loosened things up, and we were able to rest some legs.”
Senior midfielder Katie Case set up one of HPA’s three second-half goals, sending a corner kick freshman Bri Vallente one-timed into the net for her 15th goal. Then Case collected her 14th goal, and senior midfielder Meimei Nakahara followed with her second.
Senior goalkeeper Hannah Unger blanked the Lions in goal.
Now Ka Makani will face a Kauai team that posted a runner-up finish at last year’s state tournament.
HPA fell to defending state champion Mid-Pacific in last year’s semifinals.
“They’re a physical team, and they have a talented player up front (Alyssa Vegas),” Perry said of Kauai. “They’ll be fast and strong, and we knew this was the match we wanted to end up at, and we’re looking forward to it.”
Honokaa 1, Leilehua 0: Dragons sophomore Allie Shiraki scored on a free kick from about 30 yards out midway through the first half, setting up Saturday’s 3 p.m. seventh-place match between BIIF No. 3 seed Honokaa (9-7) and BIIF runner-up Kamehameha-Hawaii (9-5-2).
Shiraki has scored 13 goals this season, and Honokaa coach Gerald Shiraki said about three-quarters of them have come on free kicks.
“We played well against Kalaheo (in a loss on Wednesday), and we came out on the short end,” Gerald Shiraki said. “And today we played well. We controlled the ball most of the game.”
Senior goalkeeper Jadelyn Halican shut out Oahu Interscholastic Association No. 3 seed Leilehua, which ended its season 4-10-1.
Kamehameha-Hawaii 2, Seabury Hall 0: Junior Kera Akiyama scored her team-high 16th goal in the 37th minute, and senior Sharayah Ah Chong added her 10th in the 71st as the Warriors (9-5-2) bounced back from a demoralizing loss to gain a spot in the tournament’s seventh-place game.
A day earlier, Kamehameha outshot OIA No. 4 seed Radford 19-2, but still suffered a 1-0 overtime loss.
“It was one of those soccer games that you can’t explain what happened,” Kamehameha coach Sonya Ah Chong said of her team’s loss. “We dominated 95 percent of the time, and we just could not get it into the goal. It was one of those games where we were hitting the post and nothing went in.
“They didn’t get down in the dumps about it (today). They were able to finish and put some nice goals in.”
Akiyama ran onto a throughball from sophomore midfielder Tiana Iwata on the left side before drawing the Spartans’ goalkeeper out and drilling a shot inside the far post.
Akiyama also set up Kamehameha’s second goal, winning the ball on the left side of the field before finding Sharayah Ah Chong with a pass on the opposite side of the field. Ah Chong then found the net with a shot from the top of the 18-yard box.
Junior goalkeeper Alyssa McGuire shut out Maui Interscholastic League champion Seabury Hall, which ended its season 3-8-4.
