Kekaulike, Seabury open with losses

By Fred Guzman

MauiNow.com

It’s now up to the Baldwin girls to salvage some prestige for the MIL in the state soccer tournament after the league’s two other representatives suffered losses in yesterday’s opening round.

In Division I action, King Kekaulike was routed 5-1 by Moanalua while Mauna Lani of the Big Island edged Seabury Hall 2-1 in a D-II match.

Third-seeded Baldwin drew a bye into today’s D-I quarterfinals, facing Kapolei in a 1 p.m. match at the Waipio Soccer Complex on Oahu.

Kapolei advanced by virtue of a 2-1 win over Iolani by outscoring the Raiders 3-2 in the penalty kick shootout after the two teams played to a 1-1 stalemate through 80 minute of regulation and another 20 minutes of overtime.

Kekaulike, the MIL runnerup, gave up three goals in the first 19 minutes and trailed 4-0 at halftime in the surprisingly lopsided match. Janna Duquette accounted for the lone Na Alii goal, scoring with four minutes left in the contest.

Makua Lani took a 1-0 lead before Seabury evened the match on a goal by Kristina Brown with five minutes in the first half. But the Big Island team pulled out the victory when Tiffany Nakamura scored her second goal with five minutes left in the match.

In other D-II matches, Kauai routed Kaimuki 9-0, Honokaa spanked Radford 7-1 and Kamehameha-Hawaii edged Nanakuli 1-0.

Kekaulike and Seabury were relegated to the consolation bracket, with Na Alii facing Castle and Seabury challenging Kaimuki in 1 p.m. matches today.

MORE PREPS: On Friday, the canoe paddling championships will be held at Keehi Lagoon on Oahu.

The boy’s D-I and D-II soccer events get under way next Wednesday at the Waipio complex. MIL champ Baldwin and runnerup Kekaulike will play in D-I, while Seabury qualified for the D-II tourney.

The swimming and diving championships to be held Feb. 12-13 on Kamehameha’s Big Island campus.

The girls’ D-I and D-II basketball tournaments are set for Feb. 16-19 on Oahu, the wrestling championships Feb. 26-27 at the Blaisdell Arena, followed by the boy’s D-I and D-II hoops tourneys March 3-6 on Oahu.