Duncan’s Two Goals Lifts KS-Maui Girls Over Baldwin

Kamehameha Maui’s Marley Duncan (3) scored two goals Tuesday night in the Warriors’ 4-2 win over Baldwin at War Memorial Stadium. Photo by Rodney S. Yap.

By Rodney S. Yap

The Kamehameha Maui girls soccer team got two goals from junior Marley Duncan, the second one on a counter play in the 60th minute, to help the Warriors close out a 4-2 win over Baldwin Tuesday night at War Memorial Stadium.

First-year Warrior head coach Steven Mau prefers to sit Duncan for the first 15 minutes of each half. The bench time, Mau says, fuels her passion to play.

“She doesn’t like sitting out and she gets fired up on the bench,” Mau said. “I always keep her on the bench for the first 15 minutes of the half and then when she goes in, she lights it up, she’s our spark plug.”

Seven minutes after Mau brought in Duncan in the first half — at the 22-minute mark — she turned on a pass from about 20 yards out and scored to give Kamehameha a 2-0 lead.

“It was at the top of the box,” Duncan said. “I don’t remember who passed it to me, but when I got it there was pressure on me and I just sort of one-timed it.”

Three minutes later Noelani Reyes gave the Warriors a 3-0 lead with a goal off a corner kick.

“We missed an early goal and I thought that was crucial, but we came right back with another one and that was a lucky ball with the wind from Quinn (Williams),” Mau said of the 40-yard shot that opened the scoring in the 10th minute.  “It was a lob shot and it went in.”

Baldwin cut Kamehameha’s lead to 3-1 with a goal in the 50th minute. The Bears appeared to be building momentum for a comeback, until Duncan scored her second goal on a counter attack that saw her dribble the ball 15 yards against one-on-one pressure before finishing with her right foot to the opposite side corner of the goal.

Kamehameha Maui’s Quinn Williams battles with Baldwin’s Amber Kozaki late in the second half as the Warriors’ Taira Lucas looks on. Photo by Rodney S. Yap.

“That was actually the nail in the coffin for us right there,” said Baldwin girls coach Tia Medeiros. “If they don’t get that one goal in the second half, it’s 3-2 and its a different game from there.”

It was the Warriors’ sixth consecutive win. KS-Maui is now 9-2 (27 points) in the Maui Interscholastic League girls Division I standings, one point behind King Kekaulike (9-1-1) and Baldwin (9-2-1) — tied with 28 points apiece.

On Friday, King Kekaulike is at Kamehameha Maui, beginning at 5 p.m.

“It was a beautiful goal,” said Mau, who had just substituted Duncan into the second half five minutes earlier. “That’s what I like about her, she brings the fire. She has a lot of energy.”

Mau said Duncan also brought “fresh legs and the right mindset to finish balls.”

“I’m really confident in our runs with the forwards because we have really fast forwards,” Duncan said. “Things happened so fast, my instincts kicked in.”

Duncan, who has five goals on the season, said her confidence is up because of the practice she’s put in.

“I’ve put in a little extra practice because I wasn’t getting it in, but I think I found my rhythm, finally.”

Baldwin added an own goal in the 73rd minute but it wasn’t enough.

“We have to score those goals early, we can’t blame it on the refs,” Medeiros said. “Unfortunately we had one of our classic slow starts. I thought we came back hard in the second half, but we just have to start games like we’re down 3-0.”

Baldwin’s Nick Lawrence (8) scored two goals and assisted on another in the Bears’ 3-0 win over Kamehameha Maui boys Tuesday at War Memorial Stadium. Warrior Daniel Quenga (7) defends. Photo by Rodney S. Yap.

“I knew they would come back,” Mau said. “I knew they were going to play long ball and they would start shooting from outside because that’s their type of soccer, a little more direct. And when a team like that gets the wind it’s even more to their advantage. But we also talked about countering off their attack.

“It’s a big win for us, especially because it was Baldwin.”

In MIL boys soccer action at War Memorial Stadium:

BALDWIN 3, KAMEHAMEHA MAUI 0

Nick Lawrence scored two goals and had an assist for Baldwin (8-2-0), which claimed sole possession of second place with the shutout win.

Lawrence scored in the 33rd and 63rd minutes, and assisted on the first goal to Zach Coloma-Mariano in the 23rd.

Ryan Feliciano assisted on Lawrence’s first goal, and Jaren Otani was credited with the assist on the second.

Kamehameha Maui meanwhile dropped to 7-2-0.