Kaiser runs past Moanalua in the second half, 4-0

Kaiser's Hunter Yamanaka dribbles the ball past Moanalua in the first half at Castle High Tuesday night. Michael Lasquero | SL

KANEOHE — Kaiser pulled away from Moanalua in the second half to come away with a 4-0 win Tuesday night at Castle High's field.

The Cougars led 1-0 at the break, but scored three goals in the second half to improve to 3-0 atop the Oahu Interscholastic Association Eastern Division standings.

Na Menehune saw their two-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 2-2.

"We just wore them down in the second half," said first-year Kaiser Coach Layne Abalos. "First half you could see them with (their) hands on their hips. Credit to the boys man. (Our) conditioning is unbelievable."

Sophomore striker Makana Srivongsana, the Cougars' leading goal scorer, scored the first goal of the second half after latching on to a long ball from fullback Colin Wheatley. He then outmuscled a defender before kicking a left-footed ball into the bottom left corner of Moanalua's goal in the 44th minute.

Motoki Sato scored on a right-footed shot inside the box in the 50th minute and Noah Mokulehua scored in the 52 minute off a long throw-in from Yuki Enomoto.

"Once one guy gets going, the whole team starts going," said Abalos.

Moanalua defended Kaiser well early in the match, but tired legs and the long ball helped the Cougars' run away with the win.

"They (Kaiser) are a very physical team," said Moanalua coach Hugo Gutierrez. "They have a lot more experience. The long balls made a big difference as well as their forwards."

The Cougars had many shot attempts on goal in the first half of play, but didn't break through until the 35th minute. After Kaiser cleared the ball three straight times, senior fullback Kai Cordrey hit a long ball downfield towards the center of Moanalua's goal. Hunter Yamanaka received the pass and powered it past the Moanalua keeper to score his first goal of the season.

"We play high press and I just saw my team moving up and I moved up with them and I took the opportunity," said Yamanaka, a senior midfielder.

Yamanaka benefitted from Srivongsana streaking down field on the same play.

"Makana is our leader so they knew to watch for him and they didn't really know who I was," said Yamanaka. "They thought Makana was more dangerous than me."

It was also the Cougars' first true shutout win of the season.

"Defensively, we played tremendous," said Abalos. "Our back four was really controlling. They just dominated. The back four is unreal."

Kaiser looks to improve its winning ways when it travels back to Castle to play the Knights Saturday afternoon while Moanalua will try to bounce back against Kaimuki.

NOTE: The game was played at Castle because both teams are putting in a new track on their home fields.