Advertiser Staff
No. 1 seeded Pearl City will be the target for the other 11 teams in this week’s state soccer championships. Here’s who they are (first records are for regular season and league tournaments, second record is for overall season, if available):
No. 2 ‘IOLANI (8-1-3, 15-3-3)
The defending state champs are so beat up from the tough Interscholastic League of Honolulu season that coach Myles Arakawa said he waited a week since the last game before holding a full practice. "We needed the rest," he said.
It is "99 percent" certain that ILH scoring champion Duke Hashimoto (11 goals) will not play this week, Arakawa said. Hashimoto is being treated for a ligament injury in his right knee and is in great pain, Arakawa said.
John Lee, the Raiders’ other striker, has a myriad of bumps, bruises and strains and probably will not play much, the coach said.
"We need to control the things we can control, get past the off-field distractions, and just go out and do our best to try to win states again," Arakawa said.
If ‘Iolani should get to a semifinal game against Baldwin, look for a bruising battle. The teams did not get along well at the Hawai‘i Prep tourney, when ‘Iolani won 1-0.
No. 3 BALDWIN (9-0-1, 16-3-1)
The Bears split six preseason games against teams that are in states. "Playing the best teams is the only way to get prepared for states," coach Fred Guzman said. "I think we’re in the mix. . . . you have to consider any number of teams in the mix. Besides the seeded teams, Mililani is excellent and Kam is on a roll."
Fifteen Bears scored goals in the Maui season, led by Clayton Sado with 15 and Kawika Kahui with 13. In 16 games overall, Sado had 26 goals and 10 assists. Sophomore Keola Nobriga had 11 assists in the full season and Layne Matsui 10 goals.
Kahui is 6 feet 2, 210 pounds and was Maui’s football defensive Co-Player of the Year in one selection. "He was a tremendous goalkeeper prospect, but he wanted to be on the field," Guzman said.
No. 4 HILO (12-2, 16-2)
The Vikings finished in third place last year, the best showing ever by Hilo.
"This is a stronger team," coach Don Memmer said. "We have to play as good a defense as we did last year and hopefully our offense will come through. We can stay up with any of these teams if we can score."
Hilo won two of three from Hawai‘i Prep but lost to Kealakehe after it had clinched the Big Island regular-season championship. "We’ve had a week layoff and that was really good," Memmer said. "I’d rather be healthy and rusty than sharp and banged up."
‘AIEA (10-3-0)
For Na Ali‘i to contend, coach Jon Shirafuji said, "all of the supporting guys have to play a bigger role and take some of the pressure off Benji Villaflor. If someone steps up and takes over it would be really nice."
Villaflor, a first-team all-state player last year, has scored 14 of ‘Aiea’s 38 goals this season, including six in the last four games.
‘Aiea lost to Pearl City twice, ‘Iolani and Mililani, all by 2-0 scores. Na Ali‘i defeated Kalani and Campbell decisively.
CAMPBELL (8-4-1, 14-5-1)
This is the first time the Sabers have ever been in the state tournament. They were also in the OIA final four for the first time and lost twice by a combined score of 7-1.
"It was a learning experience," assistant coach Sandra Marotti-Cummings said. "They need to get back to their game and not be worried about externals and who we’re playing and what their record is."
Campbell lost to Kamehameha, 3-0, and hammered Kalani, 4-0, in preseason.
HAWAI‘I PREP (13-3, 17-6)
New coach Keawe Liu said Ka Makani are a "totally different team" from the one that lost to Pearl City and ‘Iolani (both 3-1) and Punahou in preseason. "We’re in our best health all year," Liu said. "Kawehi Clarke, our best forward, has been out 13 games since December with a stress fracture and just got clearance to play."
Defender Macy Wessell is back also, after being out more than two weeks.
Olympic development center halfback Jared Chapman had surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament and will not play.
"We have a strong team idea, and now we have strong individuals filling in spots where we have been weak," Liu said. "Our defense is extremely strong. Now we have options and we should be potent."
Liu, an HPA graduate and assistant the last three years, replaced Steve Perry, who remains as girls coach and athletic director of the Waimea school.
KALANI (8-2-3)
Kalani is so proud of its team’s first appearance in boys’ states that a school assembly was held to honor and encourage the soccer players.
Coach Greg Van Cantfort reconfigured the Kalani practice field and took his team to work out on Cooke Field at University of Hawai‘i to prepare for the wider dimensions (65 by 120 yards) and artificial turf at Aloha Stadium. "The teams that adjust to the differences quickest will be the most successful," he said. "Our players were surprised how quickly the ball moved and how easy it is to misjudge a bounce on artificial turf."
Van Cantfort said Kalani’s strength is goalkeeper Richard Dabbs, whose eight goals were the least allowed in the OIA East. He said his team is injury free. "We’re physically prepared, but the mental things are the hardest to prepare for," he said.
Van Cantfort said assistant Carol Hatcher, a Kalani alum and former All-Pac 10 player at Southern California, "deserves a lot of credit. You should see her at practices."
KAMEHAMEHA (9-2-2, 18-2-2)
The Warriors reached states in a remarkable final week in which they upset defending state champion ‘Iolani, 1-0, and battered King Kekaulike, 4-1, in a play-in game on Maui.
Coach Andrew Ah New sees his 25-player squad as an advantage. "We use 20 players at least five minutes in every game. It really helped last week when we won four games in nine days," he said.
Sophomore Kekoa Smith, a sprinter brought up from the junior varsity, scored the goal that beat ‘Iolani and got two more against King Kekaulike.
Both of Kamehameha’s two preseason losses were to Pearl City.
KAPA‘A (7-1-2, 7-2-4)
The biggest mystery about the Warriors is who scored the winning goal that got them to states when they defeated Kaua‘i High, 1-0, in a playoff Feb. 3. By some accounts it was striker Colby Ayonon, who chipped the ball off the Kaua‘i sweeper and into the goal. By others, it was an own-goal that the sweeper inadvertently put in.
"There was an absolute cluster around the goal," Garden Island sports editor Jayson Gallic said.
Kapa‘a coach Wade Bosworth said it doesn’t matter. "We’re just excited to go. We’re a defensive minded team and we want to go and stir up some trouble. This team is something special."
Kapa‘a is in states for the first time since 1997.
KEALAKEHE (12-3, 24-5)
Coach Urs Leuenberger said, "I feel our team grew since preseason, especially in the end-phase." In preseason the Waveriders lost to Baldwin, 4-3, on Maui after leading three times.
The new Kona school was out of states in two games last year. "We’re ready this time to go out and face anybody," Leuenberger said. "No more excuses. We’ve got seniors for the first time and 11 outstanding starters."
Kealakehe defeated Big Island champion Hilo, 4-1, after the Vikings had clinched the title. The Waveriders lost to HPA in a shootout, 1-0, at HPA "after we had dominated for 100 minutes," Leuenberger said.
MILILANI (9-2-1)
Jeff Yamamoto, named state Coach of the Year in 2000 after a second-place finish to ‘Iolani, said, "We’re playing a good game right now. The only unfortunate thing is lots of injuries. We’ve got to put it together."
Mililani lost to Baldwin, 2-0, and Kamehameha, 2-0, on Maui, but Yamamoto said, "I don’t put much value on preseason results. Everyone is trying different stuff. But I know they are very, very good teams."
Mililani was the only team to score on Pearl City in the OIA West and then won eight in a row before losing to the Chargers again, 1-0, in the OIA championship game.
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