Neighbor Islands rebound from 2002 first-round flops

By Leila Wai and Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writers

After the first round of the Meadow Gold Boys State Soccer Championships last year, it was O'ahu schools 3, Neighbor Islands 1

Kamehameha's Makana Prothero celebrates after scoring against Roosevelt goalie Braxton Higa. Kamehameha won, 5-0. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Hawai'i Prep beat Castle, 3-1, and Kaua'i outlasted Moanalua, 3-2.

"I think that shows that the quality of soccer in our state is going up," said Pearl City coach Scott Keopuhiwa, whose Chargers defeated Honoka'a, 3-0. "It's more competitive."

In the other game, Kamehameha beat Roosevelt, 5-0.

The Neighbor Islands' first win came when Hawai'i Prep (15-2), the Big Island Interscholastic Federation's second-place team, defeated Castle (9-3-2), the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's third-place team.

Ka Makani struck first on the first of two goals from junior Trel Mangarin — both on assists from Jared Chapman — in the 25th minute on a chipped ball from Chapman over the head of a Castle defender, with Mangarin retrieving the ball and slotting it under the Knights' goalkeeper.

Castle's Kory Muraoka tied the score when he nailed a 35-yard shot over the outstretched arms of the Hawai'i Prep goalkeeper in the 33rd minute.

"He's our finisher; he was set up really well by two beautiful passes by Jared Chapman," Hawai'i Prep coach Stephen Perry said.

"The other team thought I was offsides and didn't play the whistle, and I got a lucky goal, I guess," Mangarin said. "And the second one was pretty good; Chapman hooked me up. He's given me most of my goals this year."

Ka Makani sealed the game in the 66th minute when J Park put away a corner kick from Andre Laguire.

"I was happy," Perry said. "We felt really confident coming in and we wanted to play in the stadium tomorrow and face Punahou."

The Neighbor Islands' second victory came when two goals by Kaua'i's Mason Chan, both scored in the first minute-and-a-half of each half, lifted the Kauai Interscholastic Federation champion Red Raiders (8-1) over the OIA's fifth-place Menehunes (10-4-1).

Chan's first goal came on a botched play by the Moanalua goalkeeper and defender, who crashed into each other, causing the ball to pop loose in front of the goal, where Chan finished. Chan's second goal came off a corner kick from J-Paul Hornstine, which Chan headed in.

Koji Nakaya scored in the 65th minute to put Kaua'i ahead 3-1.

"It was a very difficult game; any time you come to the states, all of the 12 teams are good," Kaua'i coach Mark Brandeburg said. "One thing I liked about the boys is that they didn't give up, they stuck together as a team like they have been the entire year, and we came out on top."

Moanalua scored in the 27th minute, when Aaron Miura converted a penalty kick. Things got interesting when Moanalua's second goal came with just over a minute remaining in the game on a header by Nick Lovan.

"It was kind of a relief (to score so early); we could kind of ease up a little bit," Chan said. "But I think it kind of got us in the end, we were easing up too much and they scored on us."

"The game was anybody's game," Moanalua coach Spencer Machado said. "It was pretty much back and forth. They (Moanalua) showed a lot of spunk, they knew that they were behind. We had some opportunities and got close, but it just didn't happen."

• KAMEHAMEHA 5, ROOSEVELT 0: Makana Prothero scored in the 22nd and 27th minutes, and Russell Wassman (31st), Kekoa Smith (53rd) and Cody Takata (70th) each added one goal to help the Warriors (10-4-1) of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu cruise past the Rough Riders (8-6-1) of the OIA.

Kamehameha finished third in the ILH, but was awarded a state berth because runner-up Pac-Five was ineligible.

"We wanted to earn our way in, but that's just how it turned out," Prothero said. "Now we're here to prove we belong."

Roosevelt, the OIA's fourth-place team, is making its first-ever state tournament appearance in boys soccer.

"We're happy with how far we came," said Roosevelt coach Ed Ota. "It's a good experience for the boys to make it to states, because now they know what it takes and how hard they gotta work to compete against these teams."

• PEARL CITY 3, HONOKA'A 0: Keone Peiper (14th minute), Roger Lao (22nd) and Jerome Valdriz (62nd) scored for the Chargers (10-2-1), the OIA runners-up, as they defeated Honoka'a (10-6), the third-place team from the BIIF.

"It was kind of a shaky start for us, I kind of expected a letdown after Saturday's loss (a 1-0 double overtime loss to Mililani in the OIA championship game)," Pearl City coach Scott Keopuhiwa said.

"We went out and got the win, so that's the main thing. At this point in the year it's just trying to move on. So hopefully we'll settle down."

• GONE, NOT FORGOTTEN: Pac-Five parent Bernard Fajota set up a table near one of Waipi'o's fields "to raise awareness" about the Wolfpack's plight. Pac-Five is ineligible because of a Hawai'i High School Athletic Association rule regarding "combination" teams.

The table had a sign saying "Congratulations and Good Luck" to all the tournament teams, who were listed, with Pac-Five mentioned at the bottom. His display also featured a poster board with newspaper articles about the situation and a petition was offered for those wanting to sign their support to get the rule changed.

"I'm just standing here, doing this as a private citizen to raise awareness and to gain support so hopefully (the issue) will be taken seriously and not just brushed aside every year," Fajota said. "It's not about sour grapes."