The simple and short 2-plus mile drive down Kapiolani Street isn’t the only thing that connects the boys soccer programs at Hilo High and Waiakea.
They’re experienced, talented, they have something to prove and on this they can agree: It’s been far too long since the BIIF Division I soccer champion resided in East Hawaii.
The rivals met in the championship game in 2011 in Waimea, a Vikings victory, and neither has returned to the top since.
It hasn’t been for a lack of trying.
“Is it finally our time, I don’t know,” Hilo coach George Ichimaru said Thursday, “but they know what the expectation is and they know where they want to go.”
Save for losses to the Warriors in the 2012 and 2018 semifinals, the Vikings have been the perpetual runner-up, and, somehow, each title game loss has been a little closer and a heart-wrenching than the previous one. Last season, Hilo lost in penalty kicks to Hawaii Prep.
“For us, it’s a matter of peaking at the right time,” Ichimaru said. “When the players really figure it out, they’ll figure it out, and it will start clicking.”
He’s well aware the Warriors, his alma mater, have the longer title drought. Ichimaru graduated from Waiakea in 2004, and two years later it won its last title with a team that included UH-Hilo women’s soccer coach Gene Okamura.
Coach David Urakami came on board in 2009 and has been trying to chip away at a championship ever since.
This could be his best chance.
“This is a good team,” said Urakami, who is often understated, upon arriving at practice Thursday.
Asked if he was looking at the D-I favorite, he nodded.
“They are very in tune with each other,” Urakami said.
This is the season he’s been targeting for a while now, ever since the class of 2020 – midfielder John Grover, forward/midfielder Kai Biegler, center back Elijah Carigon, to name a few – was bolstered by a strong freshman class two seasons ago that included midfielder Riley Tamanaha, now a junior.
The Warriors almost arrived early, taking a second-half lead against unbeaten Hawaii Prep in the 2018 title game only to lose in overtime. Last season, HPA eliminated Waiakea in similar fashion, this time in the semifinals.
“Honestly, we’re changing things up from the past because it didn’t really produce,” Urakami said. “We used to think about where we wanted to be and work our way backward. Now we’re just taking it one game at a time, now that I have a team that I’ve never had before.”
Waiakea (1-0), which hosts Konawaena at 2 p.m. Saturday, returns eight starters, and Urakami likes his depth of club-seasoned talent enough that he feels he can comfortably roll out a second team in a tight match.
Grover is a potential player of the year, and other seniors include forward Jaden Jinbo, midfielder Taylor Todd and Jeremy Spain, who has taken over as full-time goalkeeper and has enjoyed a good offseason, Urakami said.
One freshman to watch is forward Tevin Atwal, junior Colby Kerr will help patrol the backline and there are the three players who Urakami refers to as the “Smurfs:” juniors Kyson Yamashiro, Chase Kotomori and Kadin Hatakenaka.
“We’ve condensed practice,” Urakami said. “We used to be out here longer, but now we’re working on things like mind-set and focus.”
The odds favor either Waiakea or Hilo ending their title drought simply because Hawaii Prep moved back to Division II after consecutive D-I championships, leaving Kealakehe and Keaau in the four-team D-I. The Waveriders won six consecutive titles from 2012-17 but have bowed out in the semifinals the past two season.
“It should be between us and Hilo,” Urakami said, “but Kealakehe is going to be tough, too.”
Hilo opens the season at 2 p.m. Saturday with home match against HPA, and though the Vikings lost only four seniors, it’s not every year a team has to replace a player such as Riley Patterson, who scored 41 goals last season and was selected co-Player of the Year.
“It will definitely be a challenge,” Ichimaru said, “but as long as we follow the system, players will step up.”
Keanu Keolanui already has as the heroic place-kicker on Hilo’s state championship-winning football team. Soccer is his first sport, however, and he’s expected to be an anchor in the midfield along with Kasen Mehau, who returns to the pitch after playing basketball last season.
“Keanu is more than motivated to step up and take that leadership role again and put the team on his back,” Ichimaru said.
Senior Logan Mizuba is primed to pick up scoring slack at forward, Haku Tolentino-Perry is a returning standout on the wing and center backs Urban Halpern and Kainalu Lewis bolster the back line in front of goalkeeper Jyson Breitbarth.
“He looks strong, healthy and motivated,” Ichimaru said of his keeper.
He’s also enthusiastic about a strong freshman class that includes forward Leha Harman.
“We have a good rotation of players, we’ll do lots of subbing,” Ichimaru said. “The freshman are high intensity, very skilled and very talented. They are known in the soccer community. The older group just needs to make sure they’re disciplined.”
Hilo soccer is always good, it’s just a question of how good. If it’s not the Vikings’ year, than maybe it’s Waiakea’s?
Ichimaru was a little more commital on that one.
“It’s about time,” he said.
