Bears advance to state soccer quarterfinals

By Fred Guzman

All three of the MIL qualifiers for the state high school boys soccer tournaments will be in action today.

That was assured when Baldwin earned a berth in the quarterfinal round of the Division-I tourney with a dramatic 1-0 win over Aiea yesterday at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.

The Bears dominated the match in terms of time of possession and shots on goal, but were unable to capitalize on those advantages for most of the match. But freshman midfielder Jaren Otani ran down a pass and hammered a six-yard shot into the back of the net with eight minutes left in the first-round match.

Baldwin then had to survive a huge scare in the waning minutes as senior goalkeeper Leo Fayt made back-to-back saves on a breakaway situation to save the victory and enable Baldwin secure a berth against second-seeded Kapolei. The match is scheduled for a 5 p.m. kickoff at the Main Stadium at Waipio.

King Kekaulike and St. Anthony were seeded fourth in their respective divisions and drew first-round byes.

Kekaulike will play at D-I match at 1 p.m. at the stadium against Kaiser, which advanced with a 4-3 overtime win over Waiakea.

In other D-I results, Punahou needed overtime for a 2-1 comeback win over Roosevelt and Mililani scored both of its goals in the final eight minutes for a 2-0 win over Moanalua. Punahou next faces No. 3 Hilo and Mililani meets top-seeded Kamehameha-Oahu.

The eight-team D-II tournament kicks off today. St. Anthony will open its bid against Mid-Pacific at 3 o’clock. In other match-ups: No. 1 Honokaa faces Radford, No. 2 Kapaa meets Konawaena and No. 3 Waipahu tangles with Hawaii Prep.

YOUTH SOCCER: The Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex also was the site for the past weekend’s President’s Day Cup youth tournament, with a team from the Valley Isle bringing home a championship.

The Maui United Soccer Club 1999 Red took top honors in the under-12 boys division with a 2-0 victory over Rush 99 Nike in the final to finish the tournament with a 6-0 record, outscoring their opponents 17-2 en route to their second straight PDC title.

United’s goals came in the second minute by Angelo Deloso-Flacco and in the 47th by Noa Harrisson.

Two other Maui United boys teams won their respective pools and reached the semis only to be eliminated by eventual champions. The MUSC 99 White was defeated by Rush 99 Nike, 2-0, in the under-12 division, finishing with a 4-1 mark. MUSC 2002 lost 3-1 to the Bulls Kaula.

Two other Valley Isle teams reached the semis.  Pono 99, competing in the under-11 girls division, was ousted following a 1-0 loss to Blitz Orange and the under-10 Wailuku Bruiser boys were beaten 3-2 by Bulls 2001

MIL SOFTBALL: Members of the Lahainaluna softball team feel they let one get away last year, when arch-rival Baldwin staged a late rally in the regular-season finale to capture its seventh straight MIL title.

The Lunas partly avenged the setback in impressive fashion yesterday with a season-opening 11-4 spanking of the Bears.

Hope Morikawa went the distance for the pitching victory and the Lunas erupted for six runs in the sixth inning to secure the win. Brenna Nakamura had a two-run triple for the Lunas.