Paredes’ amazing saves tie game
Warrior boys soccer ties with King Kekaulike
Photo by Alyssa Urayanza
Senior Micah Alo (4) wins the ball mid-air in Wednesdayʻs game against King Kekaulike. The Warriors tied, 2-2, and brought their season standing so far to 3-0-1.
Varsity boys soccer tied Nā Aliʻi, 2-2, in Wednesdayʻs game at King Kekaulike High School.
The boys came into the game on a rocky start with King Kekaulike scoring a goal within the first five minutes. They suffered another blow when Nā Aliʻi scored again not long after.
“One of the goals was just really awful defending, honestly, and the second one, Iʻll take the blame one hundred percent for that. It slipped through my hands,” Warrior goalie Keola Paredes said.
Senior Micah Alo gave the Warriors a boost when he scored a goal right before halftime.
The first half ended with a score of 2-1 and Nā Aliʻi in the lead.
The Warriors tied it up near the beginning of the second half with a goal from sophomore Kealaula Keliʻikoa.
The half remained scoreless after that, and with about ten minutes left and desperate to get another goal before the game ended, Nā Aliʻi fired two precision shots at the goal.
Paredes dove and amazingly blocked both shots.
“The first one, I didnʻt see the shot coming at all, and I left my near post wide open, but I managed to get to it, so thatʻs what counts.” Paredes said. “The second one I [didnʻt see] until it was a yard in front of me, but Iʻd say it’s a mix of luck. I kinda just said put your hands up, and see how it goes.”
He was also helped by Ikaika Renaud, who stopped a ricochet shot off a corner kick, and all of this in less than ten minutes and with a win at stake.
The Warriors thought they saw one last chance in the final seconds of the game as they made a hard drive toward the Kekaulike goal, drawing the goalie way outside his box. Nā Aliʻi’s goalie grabbed the ball, and flung it, but it didn’t get far, and with the goal wide open the Warriors pounded the ball toward the net.
The crowd alternately groaned and cheered as the referee blew his whistle signaling the end of the game and nullifying the shot (although it missed), and they realized that the game had ended in a tie.
“…in the end we caught it back, and towards the end of the game we played great but it would be good if we could play the whole game like that,” Paredes said.
The win put the Warriors at three wins, no losses, and one tie, still in first place for the regular season.
“[This game was] kinda like a roller coaster,”coach Herendeen said. “We started slow and they were on top of us. [But] to the boys credit they dug out of the hole and tied it back up. We played well in the second half.”
