Girls soccer evens score with Baldwin with 2-1 win
Warriors 1 point away from state berth
Photo by Alyssa Urayanza
Junior Quinn Williams (20) scores a goal against the Bears’ goalie Auli’i Pacheco. However, the ball went out of bounds prior and the goal did not count. The Warriors ended up scoring two more points, coming out victorious in Wednesday’s game.
The girls soccer Warriors made a miraculous comeback with a 2-1 win against the Baldwin Bears at War Memorial Stadium Wednesday night.
“I feel like we did really good. We just gave it all out on the field, and the end result showed that we were the better team,” junior Taira Lucas said. “[The deciding factor] was everyone working hard and never giving up.”
The game opened to a rocky start for Kamehameha with the Bears leading in the first three minutes with a goal from Kacy Navarro.
The Warriors fired up fought back even harder. Both teams were firing one after another at their opponent’s goal.
Not a single ball managed to find its way to the back of the net, and the first half ended 1-0 with the Bears still in the lead.
The Warriors’ head coach Steven Mau and assistant coach Momi Chung gave the girls some words of encouragement before they headed onto the field for the second half of the game.
The girls took the field pumped up and on fire, for they scored within moments of the referee blowing his whistle commencing the start of the second half.
The goal was scored by junior Quinn Williams with an assist from Taira Lucas.
Both teams were unwilling to back down and played all out. The ball was swiftly carried back and forth as players desperately tried to break the tie.
With ten minutes left in the game, the Warriors took another step towards victory with a goal from Lucas. The game ended with the Warriors on top, 2-1.
The Bears beat the Warriors with the same score in the first round, so this game was both retribution and vital for the Warriors to stay within grasp of the second place spot in the Maui Interscholastic League. Maui High is firmly in first place.
“The first game the Baldwin team just beat us to every ball. Tonight was a different game,” coach Mau said. “We came from behind and that shows character.”
A second-place finish in the league will mean a return to the Hawai’i High School Athletic Association state tournament. The Maui Warriors are currently in third with six wins and two losses, and Baldwin is one point ahead with six wins, one loss, and one tie.
“They know what’s at stake. Any other loss, and they’re gone points-wise–they aren’t going to make it to states. We’re going to treat every game as if we lose, we’re out,” Coach Mau.
“We gotta do what we gotta do to make it to states. One game at a time,” he said.
Kevin • Jan 15, 2015 at 11:06 pm
Aloha – Good story and awesome pictures.