By MATT GERHART
Tribune-Herald sports writer
Hilo High is trying to turn each soccer match into a friendly.
The Lady Vikings’ annual preseason trip to Kauai was full of lively play on the soccer field. But coach Paul Bello’s favorite moment came in a gym as the Lady Vikings were setting up their sleeping arrangements.
In the past, team members have scattered their cots to the far corners of the floor, separated by clique and class. This time, however, Hilo cloistered it 21 cots side by side near the center in a tight rectangle.
“The seniors decided to try and know the girls a little better,” senior co-captain Delcee Ramos said. “The better we know each other away from the soccer, the better we’ll be able to play as a team.”
Bello calls this the closest-knit bunch he’s coached in his tenure, and he credits the seniors with bringing a new energy to a program that could use a jolt when it comes to goal production. The Vikings have lacked punch the past two seasons, falling in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division I semifinals the past two seasons.
Members of the current senior class were freshmen when the Vikings completed a BIIF threepeat in 2011, but they haven’t been to the Hawaii High School Athletic Association state tournament since.
So Hilo has entered the age of affection, hoping that goodwill will carry over into creativity on the soccer field.
“If there’s more people talking and willing to open up,” Ramos said, “they’ll fell more comfortable expressing themselves on the field and more comfortable trying new things and new positions.
“We just need to finish more.”
Bello said the nine goals that Hilo scored in three games on Kauai felt like more the team managed all of last season. In reality, the Vikings (7-3-2) outscored the opposition 43-12, but few of those goals came against quality opponents, including a 3-0 loss to eventual champion Konawaena in the playoffs.
Most of Hilo’s players have focused more on defense since they started playing soccer, but one player who’s already changing her mindset is senior Lolly Higa, who’s brought her speed from fullback up to forward and scored four times on Kauai.
She’s set a goal for 20 on the season, and she said a lack of passion wouldn’t stall the team like last year.
“I’m running around like a chicken without a head,” said Higa, who’s also a sprinter in track and field. “Coach told me if I don’t score, I’ll find myself in the back again. I need to score.”
“On Kauai we played like a team. No drama.”
Ramos, who scored three goals last season, will either concentrate on offense at center midfield or focus on defense at stopper. The other senior co-captain is Lii Maertens, the BIIF’s defending 400 champion. Bello called her a “menacing” presence at forward, but she’ll likely anchor the defense at sweeper on a backline that will also include Alysha Medeiros and freshman Evyn-Bree Helekahi-Kaiwi. If so, Taylor Matas (two goals last season) and Jasmine Smeraglia (three) are in the mix to join Higa up top.
Whether she plays forward or midfield, Bello expects Matas to bounce back after an injury-riddled campaign last season and return to the form that saw her score seven times in 2011-12.
The deep corp at midfield includes Serena Nasworthy, who’s the team’s leading returning scorer with four goals last year, Savannah Toussaint-Adviento and Mehana Sebado-Halpern (three goals last season). Sabado-Halpern is a standout in both track and cross country standout who Bello can pencil in for 80 minutes game.
“She’ll go the entire match, and she won’t be breathing hard,” he said. “Nothing.”
Bello is perhaps most bullish about his new goalkeeper, senior Jordyn Breitbarth, calling her the most athletic keeper he’s coached.
Editor’s note: This is the second in series of BIIF soccer previews.
Next up: Hawaii Prep boys, Saturday
Hilo Bayfront Classic
Games at Hilo Bayfront (unless noted)
Today
HPA vs. Waimea girls, 4 p.m.
HPA vs. Keaau boys, 4 p.m.
Saturday
CLA vs. Kealakehe boys, 9 a.m.
Waimea vs. Keaau girls, 9 a.m.
HPA vs. Kam boys, 11 a.m.
Hilo vs. Honokaa boys, 11 a.m.
CLA vs. Kona boys, 1:30 p.m.
Kealakehe vs. Keaau boys, 1:30 p.m.
Waimea vs. Honokaa girls girls, 3:30 p.m.
Hilo vs. Keaau girls, 3:30 p.m., Amauluu Field
Sunday
Kamehameha vs. Honokaa boys, 10 a.m.
Honokaa vs. Keaau girls, 10 a.m., Amauluu Field
Hilo vs. Kona boys, 10 a.m.
Keaau vs. Honokaa boys, 1:30 p.m.
Kamehameha vs. Kona boys, 2:30 p.m.
Hilo vs. Kealakehe boys, 3:30 p.m.
