KS-Maui Girls Ready to Step Up at State Tourney

Kamehameha Schools Maui senior midfielder Lily Higashino (7) is one of six seniors the Lady Warriors have on their 25-player roster. File photo by Rodney S. Yap.

By Rodney S. Yap

Kamehameha Schools Maui girls soccer team will have a noticeably hop when they step on the field today against cross-state sister school Kamehameha Oahu.

It’s all part of the swag and business attitude the team brings this week to the 2014 Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Division I State Championships.

The third seed and unbeaten champions from the Maui Interscholastic League open quarterfinal action against KS-Kapalama at 1 p.m., followed by fourth-seeded Konawaena against Aiea at 3 p.m., second-seeded Pearl City and Mililani at 5 p.m., and top-seeded Iolani meets Kapolei in the nightcap at 7 p.m.

Kapolei advanced to the quarterfinals by knocking off Maui High, 3-1, in Wednesday’s first-round at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex on Oahu.

Maui High’s Alysha Miyazono, No. 9 in this file photo against Baldwin earlier this year, scored the Sabers only goal in Wednesday’s 3-1 defeat to Kamehameha Schools Oahu. Photo by Rodney S. Yap.

Bianca Gonzales scored the first (2:00) and third goal (56:00) goals for Kapolei. Maui High’s Alysha Miyazono tied the match at 1-1 with her goal in the 49th minute. Kapolei’s Eden Ines added an insurance goal at 53:00.

Seabury Hall, the MIL representative in the Division II tournament, fell to Kamehameha Hawaii in a first-round match Wednesday, 2-0. The Spartans will play a consolation game today at 1 p.m.

Kamehameha Maui finished the season a perfect 12-0 under second-year head coach Steven Mau. Last year the Lady Warriors finished a respectable fifth at the state tournament.

“I don’t want to be a program that goes to state every year, but has nothing to show for it,” Mau said Wednesday before the start of the 12-team tourney.

Speaking about his 25-player roster that includes six seniors and six freshmen, Mau said: “I don’t want to be mediocre. I want to stand out. I want to bring something to the table, I don’t want to slide in the backdoor, I want to come through the front door.”

The coach said he hopes to get the best out of his team by challenging them in his pre-game message.

“To dig deep into themselves and find who you are playing for,” Mau explained. “Are you playing for yourself, for your mom, your dad or your sister who is gone and on the mainland. Find something that is not in front of you that will drive you to play better.”

For instance, Mau said, a relative who wrestles asked him to come to his state tournament later this year, “because I wrestle better when you come,” the boy said.

The boy was third last year. Mau said he plans to attend this year, “because if I go maybe he’ll finish first.”