The Kamehameha varsity boys soccer team beat Waiakea High School 4-0 at Kana’iaupuni Stadium on Friday, Dec. 6. The Warriors are unofficially 1-0.

“It was a positive start,” Coach Herendeen said. “We found things we want to improve and played hard from beginning to end. Waiakea is a tough team. They play physical and they’re very fast, and we were fortunate tonight.

Coach Kyle Herendeen is the Warriors’ head coach and is back for his second year.

Waiakea held the Warriors down to one score in the first half with senior Nainoa Silva scoring one point.

Senior Captain Brennan Joaquin scored three goals on the night in the second half. Joaquin noted the efforts of the underclassmen during this game.

“They were really great,” Joaquin said. “I was surprised at how mature and composed they played. It was a slow start for us, but we picked it up in the end and played well.”

Joaquin said the slow start was a result of pre-game jitters, as it was a first-game situation for them.

The Warriors will be missing some talent this year due to last year’s players graduating. Players such as Micah Alo, Colton Cabanas, Bryant Kubo and Chase Nakagawa from the class of 2015 brought a lot of skill to the Warriors’ game.

Alo was the Maui News Player of the Year, Cabanas and Kubo were named for the Maui Interscholastic League All Stars first team, and Nakagawa made the second team.

“We have size 20 shoes to fill,” Joaquin said, “and we miss them.

With a new team, there are many underclassmen that have made the roster. Freshman players also played in the game, seeing action on the field with veteran teammates.

“We have a lot of young talent right now,” Coach Herendeen said. “With the right work ethic, we can become a high quality soccer team. The freshmen really stepped up. They stood strong for us and contributed tonight.”

“It was a good effort,” Waiakea’s head coach Kawika Urakami, said. “This game, we saw our weaknesses and what we have to work on, but we’ll do it as a team.”

He pointed out that one thing his team has to work on is “marking up,” but he had positive things to say about the Warriors.

“Both sides [for the Warriors] were very disciplined,” he said. “Their basics are very good.”

Gallery • 4 Photos

Photo by Kainoa Deguilmo

Nainoa Silva (7) celebrates with Cy Ornellas (8) after scoring a point during the first half.