Hilo’s speed and aggressive play were unsolvable problems for Waiakea, which couldn’t find an answer to stopping Kalei Tolentino-Perry and Riley Patterson.
They scored two goals each and the Vikings prevailed over the Warriors 4-2 in a BIIF soccer game on Tuesday at Ken Yamase Memorial Stadium.
Tolentino-Perry is probably kicking himself for missing a hat trick because he hooked a wide-open shot from 25 yards out in the second half.
However, his banana shot led to his first beautiful goal on a direct kick from 20 yards out. From the left wing, Tolentino-Perry bent a shot around Waiakea’s wall, and it curved into the goal for a 1-0 halftime lead.
For most of the match, the Vikings (4-2) beat the Warriors (5-2) to the ball or bumped them off it, gaining easy extra possessions.
With Tolentino-Perry at one forward spot and Patterson at the other, the two speed burners stretched the field and created space for each other.
The Vikings didn’t need to rely on a time-consuming possession attack. They could just boot a long pass and have their speedy duo chase the ball and make something happen.
“Our game plan was to work sideline to sideline because Waiakea’s strength is up the middle,” Hilo coach George Ichimaru said. “Kalei and Riley are fast, so are Rylen (Kaniaupio) and Kahale (Huddleston).”
The Warriors came out looking to work the ball up the field. But when they started to lose possessions, they fell into a trap of kicking airballs, which often benefited the athletic Viks.
Still, Waiakea won’t go away. Michael Scott scored, and Griffin Adolf added another goal, which cut Hilo’s lead to 3-2 with 8:28 remaining.
The Viks held on, getting a good scare from Scott, who’s not as fast as Tolentino-Perry or Griffin. But if the ball is at Scott’s feet, he can create a shot and fire a rocket.
“We put our two fastest defenders, Rylen and Kahale, on him,” Ichimaru said. “We had one pressure and the other in coverage.”
Likewise, Waiakea coach David Urakami shaped his defense to cover Tolentino-Perry. But Patterson is fast, too.
A bigger issue was that the Warriors didn’t clear the ball near the goal, which contributed to three scores surrendered.
On Tolentino-Perry’s missed hat trick shot, Waiakea’s goalie came out of the box but didn’t kick the ball out of bounds.
The ball bounced around and landed at Tolentino-Perry’s feet. It was a missed hat trick and a lucky break for Waiakea at the time.
“We didn’t communicate and could have stayed organized better,” Urakami said. “But I’m proud how we performed. But Kalei, he’s awesome.”
Urakami’s team is built around his seniors Scott and Max Adolf at forward and Gehrig Octavio and Brennen Yamamoto on defense.
But he’s got a pair of promising freshmen in 5-8 midfield Jon Grover and Kai Biegler, the son of Dan Biegler, who runs the Na Hoa O Puna soccer club.
Grover, who showed a nice touch with long passes, Kai Biegler, and Tolentino-Perry, whose late dad Buddy Perry founded the club, are all Na Hoa O Puna members.
Likewise, Uchimaru has a lot of key seniors: Tolentino-Perry, Kaniaupio, and goalie Ka‘aina Lewis, so their experience and speed help.
The Vikings also got a boost from midfielder Jack Mann, a transfer from the mainland, who won a lot of balls on the wing and ignited attacks.
“He came in and controlled the tempo,” Ichimaru said. “We had a New Year’s resolution to play 80 minutes of good soccer. We didn’t do that for the entire game. But we had good moments.”
Hilo’s uptempo offense was enough to survive the day, and the good moments came whenever the ball found Tolentino-Perry and Patterson.
Girls
Hilo 2, Waiakea 0
Miya Clarke and Lauree Anne DeMattos scored for the Vikings (6-1). Hollie Saplan had a pair of assists.
The Warriors fell to 2-3-1.
