Boys Soccer: Bears prevail over Warriors
Photo by Riann Fujihara
Sophomore Parker “Haʻo” Awai tries to get past his opponent. The Warriors fell against the Bears, 2-0, at Kana’iaupuni Stadium, Jan. 31.
PUKALANI – Coach Kane Palazzotto left Kanaʻiaupuni Stadium with a smile on his face after the Baldwin soccer boys defeated the Warriors, 2-0, Wednesday, Jan. 31.
Senior Jacob Hogin scored the first goal in the first half, and senior Angelo Deloso-Flocco made the second goal in the second half.
“[The Bears] played awesome tonight, especially defensively, we were good. Maybe not on the set pieces but for the most part, especially in the second half, we were awesome defensively,” Coach Palazzotto said.
The Bears will be playing Seabury Hall, tomorrow, Feb. 3, and if they come out victorious, they will be the Maui Interscholastic League Champions.
“We are not MIL champs yet, so we have to win one more game. But I think it solidifies us for the state tournament,” he said.
One of the Baldwin Bears got red-carded, and Palazzotto said that it could affect their game against Seabury Hall.
“One of our starters is probably not going to be able to play, so we will have to make a little bit of adjustments. There will probably be no formation change, but we will probably fit somebody else in there that we know can do the job,” he said.
Both teams attempted many goals, and they fought to keep the ball on their respective sides.
“We fought ’til the last minute and played all out,” Kamehameha senior Gideon Aiwohi said. “It was a super physical game with lots of fouls.”
Kamehameha’s assistant coach Chaun Villalon said the Warriors played with a lot of intensity due to the importance of the game for the Bears to move up to first place on the MIL leaderboard, but there is always room for improvement.
“The biggest thing with these boys is probably effort. They have a lot of talent, a lot of skill,” he said. “So it is always the effort and the will to try and give it your all is always the challenge,” Coach Villalon said.
The Warriors will be playing their final away game against Lahainaluna on Feb. 3 at 6 p.m at Lahainaluna Stadium.
