Castle, Kaiser play to 1-1 tie in OIA East contest

Kaiser's Kaile Halvorsen tries to get the ball past Castle's Tayzha Cubit in a OIA East contest Saturday. Leighland Tagawa | Special to SL

KANEOHE — Host Castle rallied late in the second half against visiting Kaiser to finish the game tied 1-1 at Saturday evening.

The Cougars scored on the last kick of the first half to take a 1-0 advantage into the break, but Castle managed to score a late equalizer to end the match in a 1-1 tie.

The Knights' record now stands at 3-0-1 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Eastern Division standings while the Cougars are now 3-1-1 in league play.

Both teams created chances on goal, but finding the back of the net was not easy.

Kaiser's Shaley Mercado, a sophomore central midfielder, scored the first goal of the game right before the referee blew his halftime whistle. After weaving through Castle's midfield, Mercado blasted a left-footed shot into the goal from thirty yards out.

"I saw an opening and took the shot," said Mercado. "It bounced in front of the keeper in a weird spot and it went in."

Mercado's score was the first goal conceded by Knights' goalie Kaile Kauanui and the Castle defense this season.

The Cougars' defense was able to protect their goalie Kaimana Torres from Castle for most of the match, but in the 75th minute, Castle made a breakthrough thanks to the Knights' leading goal scorer Ciana Rivera.

"It was a throw-in and my teammate Jordyn (Manzano) headed the ball at the keeper," said Rivera. "I saw the goalie drop the ball and I just came in to score."

Rivera, a junior forward, has now scored seven goals this season for the Knights. She has managed to score in every single game this season that was played on the pitch.

"The goal was huge for us," said Castle Coach Millie Dydasco. "When you are down a goal and able to comeback like that, it's a tremendous boost. It really pumped everybody up."

Castle will take the long trip up north to Kahuku to play the Red Raiders on Wednesday night while Kaiser will head to Kailua to take on the Surfriders.