HHSAA Boys Soccer
Kapolei pounds Hilo, 6-1, will face top-seeded Iolani next


  



Fri, Feb 20, 2015 @ Kapolei


Final 1st 2nd OT 2OT PK Tot
Kapolei (11-2-2) 3 3 - - - 6
Hilo (0-2-0) 0 1 - - - 1
S. Hopeau    B. Gause    N. Kolona    S. Yoshida    S. Baca    C. Harvey    R. Bootes

KAPOLEI — Six different players found the back of the net as Kapolei cruised past Hilo, 6-1, in a first-round game of the Outrigger Resorts/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Boys Soccer State Championships at the Hurricanes' home field Friday night.

The Hurricanes (11-1-2), who finished third in the Oahu Interscholastic Association, will face Interscholastic League of Honolulu-champion Iolani, the top seed in the 12-team tournament, in a 6 p.m. quarterfinal Saturday. That game will be preceeded by a 2 p.m. consolation game between Hilo (9-5) and Baldwin (8-3-1) and a 4 p.m. quarterfinal featuring Kahuku (10-5) and second-seeded Mililani (12-1), the OIA titlist.

"I thought today was a total team win," Kapolei co-head coach Ryan Lau said. "What we wanted to do was establish what we worked on in the last week-and-a-half since the OIA (tournament). We wanted to just implement things that we wanted to work on as we get going moving forward. I think the six goals were indicative of the total team performance tonight and we got to get everybody in so that's a plus."

Shandon Hopeau opened the scoring in just the fourth minute and also assisted on goals by Noah Colona, in the 54th minute, and Bong Gause, in the 68th minute. Other goal scorers for the Hurricanes were CJ Harvey (15th minute), Robert Bootes (22nd), and Sean Yoshida (79th).

Steven Baca scored the Vikings' lone goal in the 65th minute.

"I give all respect to Kapolei that they came out fired up in the first half, the first 20 minutes, to come out and score three goals like that and to really put us on our backs," Hilo coach George Ichimaru said. "Kapolei came in with really good confidence and high energy to just put us away quickly."

For the first time the state tournament is utilizing a double-regional format, with Kamehameha-Maui and Kapolei serving hosts sites for the first two rounds before the final four converge on Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium next weekend.

"I think it's a comfort being on our home field," Lau said. "We're very happy we're on a wider grass field. We practice here everyday, we practice on utilizing the width of the field to spread teams out and playing quick so we can get that man-up advantage, so obviously playing at home, understanding the backdrop, I think that's a big deal."

It was the second consecutive year that the Hurricanes and Vikings matched up in the first round of the state tournament. Kapolei also won the 2014 meeting by a score of 3-0.

"The speed of play is what really freaked out my midfielders," Ichimaru said. "To see a player run at full speed, turning with the ball, they were like 'Whoa.' My players looked like cones out there and for them to just try to adapt in that short amount of time was really difficult. In the second half I think we adapted pretty well, but it wasn't enough to change the game."

Kapolei, the sixth-ranked team in the ScoringLive/OC16 Boys Soccer Power Rankings, now turn their sights on the top-ranked and reigning state-champion Raiders (9-1-1).

"The kids are looking forward to it," Lau said. "We played them in the preseason. Both teams were obviously trying a lot of things out. I think the beauty of the game tomorrow is a lot of the players are familiar with each other having played outside leagues together. I think it's a good matchup. Iolani is a well-coached team that plays very disciplined soccer, so we look forward to the opportunity."

PUKALANI REGIONAL

KALANI 3, MOANALUA 0: Trevor Kakuda, Takahiro Kosins and Kyle Ichiyama each scored a goal for the OIA runner-up Falcons (12-1-1), who will face fourth-seeded Kamehameha-Maui (8-0-2), the Maui Interscholastic League champion. Na Menehune, who finished fifth in the OIA, will play Kalaheo in a 2 p.m. consolation match Saturday.

PUNAHOU 5, KALAHEO 1: Duncan McKenna scored a pair of first-half goals to lead the Interscholastic League of Honolulu runner-up Buffanblu (9-2-2) past the OIA fourth-place Mustangs (8-4-2). Reo Nagai, John Jet Toner and Reece Mitsuyasu also scored a goal each for Punahou, which will play third-seeded Kealakehe (12-0), the Big Island Interscholastic Federation winner.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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