The Kamehameha Schools Maui boys soccer team won, 6-1, against Saint Anthony on January 5 at War Memorial Stadium.
The Warriors played aggressively right from the start of the game, almost scoring several times before Junior AJ Owan scored the first goal of the game.
“The boys have become very fast with the ball,” Coach Kimo Correa said.
Owan tripped over Saint Anthony’s goalie before getting back up to kick into the now undefended goal.
Saint Anthony replaced their goalie five minutes into the game when the starting goalie sustained an injury after tripping over Owan.
Junior Chandler Alo came in shortly after for another goal, but it was not counted by referees. Saint Antony took this opportunity to punt to the Warrior’s side of the field and kept the ball there. Senior Acer Pahukoa blocked an attempted goal, but when he punted, the wind caught the ball and dropped it not far from the Warriors’ goal.
“Playing against the wind is hard,” Pahukoa said, “but we’ve gotten better at it.”
The Warriors gained possession of the ball and ran down to Saint Anthony’s goal, scoring again.
Saint Anthony spent most of the first half kicking the ball out of bounds in order to stall the Warriors, keeping them away from their goal.
Sophomore Micah Alo was able to make a third goal before the end of the first half with an assist from freshman Brennan Joaquin.
The Warriors ended the first half with a score of 3-0.
“Our defense is outstanding,” Pahukoa said.
Saint Anthony continued to kick the ball out of bounds during the second half of the game, but the Warriors were able to gradually make their way to their opponent’s goal.
Freshman Nainoa Silva kicked into a defender, after which the ball bounced into Saint Anthony’s goal, a lucky shot for the Warriors.
The Trojans made their way back into Warrior territory and took a shot, but Pahukoa blocked. After the punt, Alo scored again for the Warriors inside of a minute after Silva made his goal.
Saint Anthony continued to play it safe, kicking the ball out of bounds.
The Warriors scored another goal when the ball slipped out of the Trojan goalie’s hands.
Saint Anthony got one goal past subbed in goalie senior Kainalu Kealoha near the end of the game.
The win keeps the Warriors narrowly in first place with 7 wins, 1 loss, and no ties to second-place Baldwin with 7 wins and 2 losses. Kamehameha Maui beat the Bears 3-1 in the first round on December 11. With the two teams jockeying for first place, their second round matchup this Tuesday, Jan. 8, promises to be a good one. The Bears and the Warriors will face off at 7:00 p.m. at War Memorial Stadium.
Coach Correa said that part of the winning formula is discipline.
“We have been working on discipline and respect. Respect for the players, coaches, spectators etc. They have really improved on that since the beginning of the season,” he said.
