Kealakehe senior Mathew Enriques entered the boys BIIF soccer semifinals against Waiakea with a league-leading 22 goals, so he was a target, but still an unstoppable one.
The 5-foot-11 Enriques scored two goals, and the Waveriders defeated the Warriors 5-2 to claim their first Division I state tournament berth since 2017 on Wednesday at Ken Yamase Memorial Stadium.
“It feels great. My first big win as a senior,” Enriques said. “I haven’t experienced this before. We always came up short before, so it feels good to have this fire. We’ll all bring it to the final on Saturday. It’s amazing to have this ever-lasting victory that I’ll keep in my heart.”
In the other BIIF semifinal, Hilo whipped Keaau 9-0 at Hilo Bayfront.
Kealakehe (7-2-1) plays Hilo (10-1) for the BIIF championship at 7 p.m. Saturday at Kamehameha’s Paiea stadium.
The season is over for the Warriors (7-1-3), the 2020 BIIF champion, and the Cougars (0-11).
The last time Kealakehe and Waiakea met was in a 2-2 on Jan. 29 at Yamase Stadium. In that game, junior forward Tevin Atwal scored two goals for the Warriors while Enriquez and Shane Carroll scored for the Waveriders.
On an overcast, dark day with light showers, Atwal knocked in a shot from 10 yards out on the left wing with 28 minutes and 6 seconds left in the first half.
“Getting scored on first is not ideal, but I’m glad we had the grit to answer back,” Enriquez said.
The Waveriders tied it 1-1 when Enriquez kicked a shot, and freshman forward Shane Carroll slammed home the rebound.
Enriquez answered three minutes later on a direct kick from 30 yards out. Waiakea’s wall wasn’t aligned properly, and Enriquez lasered a low shot right past the wall into the right corner.
That was a technical alignment problem and a goal that could have been easily prevented. The goalie usually is the player responsible for stationing the wall. The wall didn’t cover the left side of the goal, and the shot was a relatively simple one.
Then the rout was on. Kaisei Kelly and Micah Carson added goals for the Waveriders, who led 3-1 at halftime.
Atwal got his 17th goal early in the second half when he beat Duke Becker on a ball in the box.
Enriquez added his 24th goal a minute later for a 4-2 cushion.
“It was a good performance, something we always want to do on a day that matters,” Kealakehe coach Hayato Fukumitsu said. “I’m happy for it, but the job is not done. We’re looking forward to Saturday. Happy to enjoy today, but again the job is not done.”
In the first meeting with Hilo at the Waverider Stadium on Dec. 30, the Vikings blanked the ’Riders 2-0.
Hilo’s last BIIF championship was in 2011 while Kealakehe’s last BIIF title was in 2017 to conclude a six-year championship run, the last five over the Vikings.
Hilo 9, Keaau 0: Leha Harman netted four goals – giving him 22 on the season – and Kani Tolentino-Perry recorded a hat trick as the top-seeded Vikings reached the final for the third consecutive season.
Sequoia Cortes-Medeiros and Hanalei Pe’a-Ferrari also scored, and Tysen Kaniaupio and Keona Daleres kept a clean sheet against the Cougars .
