Na Alii Beat KS-Maui 2-0 to Remain Unbeaten, Untied

King Kekaulike sophomore Nikki Musto puts away this penalty kick in the 69th minute to cap the scoring 2-0 against Kemehameha Maui on Friday at Kekaulike Stadium. Photo by Rodney S. Yap.

By Rodney S. Yap

The King Kekaulike High School girls soccer team remains the only unbeaten, untied team in the Maui Interscholastic League thanks to its 2-0 victory over Kamehameha Schools Maui Friday night at Kekaulike Stadium.

Na Alii improved to 4-0-0 and have outscored their opponents 13-1.

On Friday, King Kekaulike looked to a pair of familiar faces for its offense in sophomores

Mahaina Ashdown-Deponte in the 64th minute and Nikki Musto added a penalty kick in the 69th minute. The two have combined for 10 goals this season.

The Warriors fell to 3-2-0.

In boys action, Kekaulike defeated Kamehameha Maui 2-1. Jake Jacobs made the winning goal for Na Alii 10 minutes into the second half.

King Kekaulike’s Kenya Sherman (4) congratulates Mahina Ashdown-Deponte (23) following her goal in the 64th minute. Photo by Rodney S. Yap.

“We knew Kamehameha would come at us hard and very physical, so we told our girls to try and keep the ball on the ground and play our game,” said Kekaulike head coach Gundi Dancil. “In the first half I guess we were nervous because they came at us real hard and toward the end of the first half I thought we settled down. At halftime, we told them to try and bring that with you in the second half.”

With only three seniors on the roster, Dancil said he has depended on the younger girls to step it up.

“Nikki had an outstanding game. She fought hard for that ball and got a penalty kick and when it was time to make it she did her job, she put it away.”

King Kekaulike and Baldwin are currently tied atop the girls standings with 12 points apiece. Baldwin won at Hana Friday 8-0. The Bears are 4-1-0.

After the game, when asked if his team played flat following its 2-0 win over Baldwin on Tuesday, Kamehameha first-year head coach Steven Mau said, “No, I don’t think so.”

“I think they played to the level of their opponent. That’s human nature. I’ve had plenty of teams that did that and I’ve had teams that didn’t. I’ve had teams that when it’s time to blow people out they blow them out and I think to myself that this is that team. And the only way to fix that is individually. You can’t coach that, you either have the nose for the ball or you don’t. You can’t learn it, and I speak on behalf of the player and now I’m a coach and I’ve seen it for many years kids with good talent, but they don’t have the killer instinct in them.

“I raised my kids and I teach my players, that it doesn’t matter if you’re playing against a 2-year-old or a 22-year-old, you still have to go hard. It doesn’t matter how good they are or how junk they are, I want our girls to go hard against everybody.

“We outshot them 14-10 but if we don’t capitalize on that we are not going to win games,” Mau added.

Kamehameha Maui’s Quinn Williams dribbles down the sidelines as Kekaulike’s Tyler Corpuz (18) defends during second-half action Friday at Kekaulike Stadium. Photo by Rodney S. Yap.