Keilee Silva didn’t always score the goal for Waiakea girls soccer team, but she made goal-scoring easier.
Silva wasn’t always making the stop, but the process of making the stop was simpler because of her.
Other Warriors may have had more of a noticeable impact, but Silva was the one making everything more fluid.
“She really had a dual role,” coach Steve Petner said. “That’s not only to win the ball back for us, but also starting the counterattack.
“She does that all the time. Once she starts the counterattack, people weren’t watching her any more, but we would have never gotten to the end if she didn’t do what she did.”
Well, someone was watching.
The wind beneath the wings of a program that reached rarefied air, Silva was genuinely surprised to be the coaches’ choice as BIIF Division I player of the year.
“Really grateful,” she said, “because I didn’t expect this, because I know there are a lot of talented players out there that worked hard this season that the award could have gone to.”
Silva, a senior captain who started since her freshman season, wasn’t always so gracious with opposing strikers, drawing a line on the pitch. Holding midfielders don’t play the most glamours role, but they fit a key piece of the puzzle, connecting the forwards and the fullbacks.
“I take pride in creating plays for our front line and trying to stop the ball from going into our defensive third,” she said.
Most of all, she takes pride in the Warriors’ first BIIF championship, earned with a 2-0 win against Hilo as Waiakea finished the league season with five wins in a row. Silva and her teammates succeeded where many talented Warriors teams came up short.
She was joined on the all-BIIF team by Jayda Cuevas-Varize, Kalia Franklin, Kaylie Hashizaki, Kiralyn Kuramoto, Charlie Silva and goalkeeper Journey Morimoto. Also honored were Hilo’s Kryslynn Nabaro, Chloe Saplan and Kyree Pattioay, as well as Konawaena’s Caiya Hanks and Naia Balancio, and Kealakehe’s Liana Lincoln and Lily Hatanaka.
Petner, selected coach of the year, certainly had no shortage of candidates to take the honor. He lauded Silva’s selection.
“She just got to work every game,” he said. “It’s really nice to see someone who’s not the goal-scorer get that kind of recognition.
“She never took a day off. That kind of work ethic is the kind of work ethic you need from a player in the her position.”
Silva, who started playing when she was 5 and has been a club player with Rush and Chicas, also took free kicks for the Warriors, and her ball skills on headers came in handy on corner kicks.
Her finest moment might have come in the HHSAA tournament win against Campbell that vaulted the Warriors to the state semifinal for the first time. Silva scored an equalizer, whipping a 30-yard free kick into the upper corner of the net, and she assisted on the go-ahead goal. All the while, she carried the assignment of stopping Sabers striker Cheyenne Mattos, who made the Star-Advertiser’s “stellar eleven.” (Silva was the only BIIF player to make the “second eleven”).
“Keilee had the duty of marking her, and she shut her down,” her coach said.
True to the nature of her position, Silva shared that praise.
“Our defensive line, middles and goalkeeper worked together to disrupt their plays,” she said. “Couldn’t have done it without their help.
“I am thankful for my coaches, Coach Petner, Coach Jimbo (Yamane), and Coach Terry (Yamane), and all of my teammates for pushing me to work harder and better my game every day.”
Silva is set head to the Pacific Northwest to join a powerhouse Peninsula junior college program that is coming off a fifth Northwest Athletic Conference championship. She signed with the Pirates after catching coach Kanyon Anderson’s eye at a camp. Hilo High graduates Miya Clarke, a two-time BIIF player of the year, and Booboo Corpuz played at Peninsula last year. Clarke signed with Division II Humboldt, but Corpuz has another year of eligibility.
“Coach Kanyon is a great coach, and I am excited to learn from him and better my game there,” Silva said.
All-BIIF soccer, Division I girls
Player of the year: Keilee Silva Waiakea
Coach of the year: Steve Petner Waiakea
Jayda Cuevas-Varize Waiakea 11 Forward
Kalia Franklin Waiakea 9 Forward
Naia Garana Kealakehe 9 Forward
Kryslynn Nabaro Hilo 10 Forward
Kaylie Hashizaki Waiakea 11 Midfield
Kiralyn Kuramoto Waiakea 10 Midfield
Charlie Silva Waiakea 9 Midfield
Naia Balancio Konawaena 12 Midfield
Caiya Hanks Konawaena 12 Midfield
Chloe Saplan Hilo 11 Midfield
Keilee Silva Waiakea 12 Defender
Lily Hatanaka Kealakehe 12 Defender
Liana Lincoln Kealakehe 12 Defender
Kyree Pattioay Hilo 12 Defender
Journey Morimoto Waiakea 10 Goalkeeper
Honorable mention
Hilo: Briana-Jean Tanaka, senior, forward; Jazlin Menino, senior, forward; Kaylee Yamada, junior, midfield; Naliipoaimoku Harmon, sophomore, midfield; Lindsey Hiraki, freshman, defender; Leilillian Ho’opai Solomon, freshman, defender; Hauoli Kalipi, senior, defender; Kaliu Boteilho, seniorm goalkeeper
Waiakea: Riley Bockrath, junior, defender; Zadelyn Ferreira-Kawai, junior, defender; Shaunte Fernandez, junior, defender