By MATT GERHART
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Contrary to a rumor and despite all the rain in East Hawaii, the Big Island Candies Hilo Bay Classic was not cancelled Thursday.
Thanks to rain-inundated soccer fields at Hilo Bayfront, however, the Hilo High girls annual tournament was trimmed from 12 teams to a tidy four.
Once the girls soccer power on the island, the Vikings are five years removed from the their last BIIF Division I championship. One look at Hilo’s roster, and one things sticks out: freshmen make up almost half the list.
It’s a bumper class, and interim coach Skee Saplan has worked with many of the ninth-graders in club play, but Saplan isn’t expecting too much, too soon. He’s turning to his upperclassmen to help fill the void left by a pair of double-digit goal scorers who graduated, Mehana Sabado-Halpern and Savannah Toussaint-Adviento.
“I want the older ones to lead,” he said.
The Vikings get a boost with the return of senior Jasmine Smeraglia. As a sophomore, Smeraglia scored nine goals to help Hilo reach the BIIF championship, where it lost to Konawaena in a shootout. She sat out last season with an ACL injury, and the Vikings could have used her during a 2-1 season-ending loss to Waiakea in the BIIF semifinals.
“She ran cross-country and she is looking really good,” Saplan said. “We want her to pick up some of the slack left by Mehana and Savannah.”
Junior Evyn-Bree Helekahi-Kawai is a junior who also will be counted for leadership and goal production.
While Sabado-Halpern and Toussaint-Adviento provided most of the scoring last season, sophomore Alyeemomi Amaral showed flashes at striker and made honorable mention all-BIIF for Hilo along with midfielders Helekahi-Kawai, Grace Watanabe and fullback Lacey Shiigi.
Shiigi, a sophomore, is among the underclassmen whom Saplan plans to move around to find the best fit.
“She played a lot of valuable minutes last season and was put in unfamiliar positions, but she did well,” Saplan said.
Junior Kaitlyn Galima helped Hilo’s backline during a trip to Kauai in which it finished 1-2, and Saplan thinks he has two quality options at goalkeeper in junior Ashley Mendes and freshman Saydee Bacdad.
The wet weather has effected they quality of Hilo’s practices, but Saplan was happy the playing time on the Garden Island allowed him to mix and match the lineup.
It may take time for Hilo to click, but the schedule is unrelenting. The Vikings open the regular season in December with matches at Kamehameha and two-time Division II HHSAA champion Hawaii Prep. And the Division I race, with three-time defending champion Konawaena, Waiakea and Kealakehe also in the mix, is annually one the the toughest in the league.
“I’d really like to possesses the ball as much as possible.” Saplan said. “It’s coming around, but to get anybody to do that takes some time.
“It’s a lot of work. It’s a big rebuilding year.”
Girls
Friday
Waimea at Kamehameha-Hawaii, 4 p.m.
Saturday
Hawaii Prep vs. Waimea, 10 a.m. at Hilo Bayfront
Hilo at Kamehameha-Hawaii, 11 a.m.
Sunday
Honokaa vs. Waimea, 3 p.m. at Hilo Bayfront
