California 17-under team puts controversy behind, beats Hawai'i

• How Hawai'i teams fared in yesterday's semifinals

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

Katie Wilcox of the De Anza Sharks (California) attempts a slide tackle on Jennifer Loo of the Hawai'i Soccer Club Bulls '86 in a girls 17-under semifinal. The De Anza Sharks won, 1-0. Eugene Tanner • Honolulu Advertiser Today's finals Boys under 19 1:45 p.m., Field 23 Oregon vs. Colorado Boys Under 18 1:15 p.m., Field 7 Cal-South vs. Cal-North Boys Under 17 8:30 a.m., Field 6 Colorado vs. Arizona Boys Under 16 10 a.m., Field 8 New Mex. vs. Cal-South Boys Under 15 11:30 a.m., Field 15 Arizona vs. Cal-South Boys Under 14 9:30 a.m., Field 16 Washington vs. Arizona Boys Under 13 Noon, Field 11 Arizona vs. Cal-South Boys Under 12 8 a.m., Field 9 Cal-South-Wild vs. Colo. Girls Under 19 10:00 a.m., Field 23 Cal-North vs. Cal-South Girls Under 18 9:30 a.m., Field 7 Colorado vs. Arizona Girls Under 17 Noon, Field 6 Arizona vs. Cal-North Girls Under 16 1:45 p.m., Field 8 Cal-South vs. Colorado Girls Under 15 8 a.m., Field 15 Cal-North vs. Arizona Girls Under 14 1:15 p.m., Field 16 Cal-South vs. Cal-North Girls Under 13 8:30 a.m., Field 11 Cal-South-Wild vs. Colo. Girls Under 12 11:30 a.m., Field 9 Cal-South vs. Hawai'i

Bunny Dickson's goal in the 32nd minute sparked the California-North (De Anza Sharks) past the Hawai'i (Hawai'i Soccer Club Bulls '86 Kaula G), 1-0, in the semifinals of the girls-under-17 division at Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Park.

The Bulls '86 team was one of four Hawai'i squads playing in semfinals yesterday. Of those four, only Ho'okalakupua (girls U12) advanced to today's finals. Ho'okalakupua defeated California-North, 3-2, in penalty kicks and will play California-South at 11:30 a.m. on Field 9 for the championship.

This week, De Anza Sharks coach Robert Joyce became the target of complaints from coaches, parents and players after he intentionally lost a preliminary game in order to receive a favorable opponent in the quarterfinals.

The De Anza Sharks scored two goals on itself in the waning minutes against Oregon on Wednesday and lost, 2-1, ensuring the Sharks a quarterfinal matchup with Nevada instead of Hawai'i or California-South — teams that Joyce did not want to face, according to opposing coaches.

Joyce, who has coached for about 28 years, talked about yesterday's game, but declined to talk about the controversial incident on Wednesday. However, several coaches and players responded to the decision by Joyce to instruct his players to lose a game.

"When you ask a player to do something like that, you've lost a little bit of something that you'll never be able to get back from them," said Bulls '86 coach Phil Neddo. "You've lost some trust."

Bulls '86 assistant coach Craig Nosse said that Joyce approached him Wednesday and told him that he purposely lost the game to avoid playing Hawai'i.

"(Joyce) said obviously we don't want to play you. You're a good team. You have home field advantage and we're going to put off playing you for as long as possible. So we put two (goals) into our own net," Nosse said. "When he said that, I was really shocked."

Nevada coach Saeed Bonabian said he was upset about the incident and is planning to write letters to top officials informing them about the incident.

"Some coaches may rest their players if the game is not meaningful," Bonabian said. "But this game was meaningful. I've coached for 20 years. I've never seen anybody do something like that. He didn't have to do that. He has a very good team. It's a bad message to youth sports."

Added Bulls '86 captain Allison Tsuchida: "I think it's the wrong thing to do, and I think it should have never been done. It was their choice."

Ted Baker, the tournament's media coordinator, said tournament officials have sent letters to the De Anza Sharks team and its soccer association "expressing concern about intentionally losing a game." But Baker said he did not know what action, if any, officials could take because Joyce did not violate any rules by intentionally scoring on itself.

In yesterday's game, Dickson's shot skipped past Hawai'i's goalie, hit the right goal post and bounced in.

"We let in a soft goal," Neddo said. "At this level, you just can't make a mistake like that and come back to talk about it."

Joyce said he expected a close game with Hawai'i. On Saturday, California won a scrimmage against Hawai'i, 1-0, at Kapi'olani Park.

"Hawai'i is an awesome team," Joyce said. "They really had a great run this tournament."

How Hawai'i teams fared in yesterday's semifinals

BOYS

Colorado (Colorado Storm Royal) 3, Hawai'i (WSC Volcanoes '90) 0. Colorado eliminated Hawai'i from the boys-under-13 division.

GIRLS

Hawai'i (Ho'okalakupua GFA) 3, Cal-North (Pleasanton Rage) 2 (PK). Hawai'i's Chelsey Goo and Erin Rementer scored one goal each in the girls-under-12 game. Goo, Brittney Sanford, Jacquie Watkins, Lauren Wong and Lani Moniz scored on penalty kicks for Hawai'i. Moniz scored the winning penalty kick.

"My heart was really thumping really fast," said Moniz, who added that she visualized the winning kick in her mind. "I feel just great that we made it this far."

Hawai'i goalie Alana Munger stopped Cal-North's final penalty kick to preserve the victory. Hawai'i has never advanced to the Regional finals.

Cal-South-Wild (Surf White) 3, Hawai'i-Wild (Leahi '90) 0. Cal-South-Wild eliminated Hawai'i-Wild in the girls-under-13 division.

Cal-North (De Anza Sharks) 1, Hawai'i (HSC Bulls '86 Kaula G) 0. Cal-North eliminated Hawai'i in the girls-under-17 division.