Iolani boys topple Pac-Five, 1-0
By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Taking advantage of an opportune moment, Iolani "put it away" and took sole possession of first place in Interscholastic League of Honolulu boys soccer.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Senior forward Chris Faulkner scored on a penalty kick in the 54th minute to give Iolani a 1-0 win over previously unbeaten Pac-Five in a first-round match yesterday at Iolani.
Pac-Five's Keoki Haole, left, gets off a pass as Iolani's Patrick Haines closes in during an Interscholastic League of Honolulu match.
Faulkner, who is the designated penalty kicker, made a low left-footed shot into the left side of the goal. The penalty kick was set up when senior midfielder Dyrk Teramae was taken down five yards inside the penalty box.
"Once we get down there, it is my job to put it away," Faulkner said. "If we got a chance we were going to have to make it, because we weren't putting the ball away in the other games."
Iolani improved to 4-0-1, while Pac-Five dropped to 3-1-0.
The Raiders also defeated the Wolfpack, 2-0, in the Hawai'i Prep Academy preseason tournament on Nov. 30.
"We had seen them before and we knew what we were up against offensively," said Iolani coach Ric Miller, whose team has allowed just one goal this regular season.
"We always know we are going to have a good defensive effort, and they are going to keep the score down, and we just need one goal to win," Miller said.
Anchored by senior defender Dane McCleary, Iolani denied Pac-Five's Keoki Haole and Jeremy Wittig, who entered the game leading the league with three goals apiece.
"Going in and knowing they had two good forwards, we knew we had to shut them down," McCleary said. "There was a lot of intensity."
With about 15 minutes to go, Pac-Five switched from a two-forward attack to three forwards in an effort to place more offensive pressure on the Iolani defense. It resulted in more chances, but Iolani goalkeeper Stephen Fung preserved the shutout.
"We had the same problem against Iolani the last time, that we couldn't score against them," Pac-Five coach Nawapan Smith said. "We are just going to have to reflect on this game and figure out a way to beat them, because we face them again in the second round."
In other ILH games:
• Kamehameha 2, Punahou 0. Kam — Jesse LeStronge, Michael DeCaires.
• Mid-Pacific 5, Damien 4. MPI — David Young 2, Shinji Takahashi 2, Pono Borges-Akau. Dam — Lokahi Bounds, Joshua Cohen, Cory Mullen, own goal.
• Saint Louis 0, Hawai'i Baptist 0.
Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.
