KAILUA-KONA — After a rare stumble at Hawaii Prep earlier this month, Kealakehe has started to find familiar form to surge into the new year.
KAILUA-KONA — After a rare stumble at Hawaii Prep earlier this month, Kealakehe has started to find familiar form to surge into the new year.
The Waveriders jumped out on Makua Lani early in Thursday’s BIIF contest at Waverider Stadium on the way to a comfortable 6-0 victory. Kealakehe scored three goals in each half while keeping the ball predominantly on the Lions side of the field.
“I thought we had another good team effort and we had a lot of assists,” said Kealakehe head coach Alden Sawada. “I was pretty pleased with the outcome.”
Makua Lani entered the game severely shorthanded. The team was missing seven players who are away visiting family for the holidays, including their top striker, DJ. Madigan. Another player is battling bronchitis and just to add insult to injury, one player had a bad allergic reaction at halftime during the game against the Waveriders.
“I felt proud of the boys given the circumstances,” said Makua Lani head coach Alex Dong. “A lot of the freshman and younger boys had a chance to play. The second half was a lot better than the first half.”
Despite being depleted, Dong was not willing to use it as an excuse for the loss.
“Credit where credit is due, Kealakehe played well,” Dong said. “Coach Alden was my coach growing up and you can tell that now he is coaching his team and not someone else’s.”
A corner kick produced the first Kealakehe goal of the game. Brayan Munoz sent the ball into the box and James Caudell was waiting on the other side to put it in the net for a 1-0 advantage.
Jon Takahashi picked up the second goal with 16:42 to play in the opening half. Takahashi moved to the center of the 18, took a pass and put the ball top-center, just over the reach of the Makua Lani keeper.
The third goal came just over a minute later. A foul set up Laukoa Santos with a free kick. Santos sent in a perfectly curved pass into the far side of the box from about 40 yards out. Hunter Olaso headed the ball toward the near post, and the ball sailed into the net for a three goal lead.
Makua Lani had a chance to get one goal back near the end of the first half. Reyn Netwon received the ball just outside the 18 but couldn’t get all of his foot on the shot and the ball rolled harmlessly to Waverider keeper Skyler Troy Canario-Pavao.
While Kealakehe continued to control possession in the second half, Makua Lani managed to push the ball past midfield on a more regular basis. However, that seemed to allow the Waverider defense to open, which led to more quick strikes.
The first quick attack came from Santos, who missed putting his team up by four by a couple of inches. Only five minutes out of the break, Santos chased after a through-ball down the left side of the pitch. He edged out his defender and sent the ball to the far side of the net. The ball rolled past the far post and out of bounds.
Another quick through-ball, this time to Iokepa Perez-Juarez-Aponte, did produce a goal when the striker pushed the ball past a diving keeper after working his way into a 1-on-1 situation three minutes after Santos’ attempt.
Santos finally did find the back of the net with 24 minutes to play. He received the ball from Munoz just outside the six and tapped the ball past the Lions keeper for a five goal lead.
With 16 minutes to go and Makua Lani deep on their own side of the pitch, Kealakehe’s Yuki Lavoie turned the tables, giving the Waveriders a 6-0 advantage on shot just outside the six.
Girls
Makua Lani 2, Kealakehe 0
The Lady Lions put away a pesky Waverider in the second half of the early game on Thursday. Kealakehe has showed great improvement over the season, with he defense shutting out Makua Lani in the first half.
In the second half, the Lions finally managed to take the lead when Akari Shimizu found the back of the net about 10 minutes after the break. Seven minutes later, Shimizu picked up her second goal off an assist by Malaea Marks.
Shimizu, a junior forward, nearly picked up a hat trick at the end of the game, putting a shot in at the same time the buzzer went off to end the game. The officials called the goal off, saying it came too late.