Soccer Friends Click For Waialua’s Triumphant Season
By Jack Danilewicz
E-mail this story | Print this page | Comments (0) | Archive | RSS | Share
Del.icio.usBack when Branden Galapia and Kamalei Rosa were playing youth soccer, they were often on different teams, but that didn’t stop them from taking notice of each other.
“They knew each other very well - they always battled in AYSO,” laughed Waialua head coach John Rosa.
This year, the pair got reacquainted as high school teammates rather than adversaries, and the results are impressive as they helped deliver Waialua its first-ever OIA soccer title. Rosa and Galapia were recently selected as Co-Players of the Year in the White for their efforts. The OIA’s All-Star selections are made by the league coaches. The Bulldogs won all 10 regular-season games in their conference and defeated both McKinley and Kailua to win the league’s post-season tournament and a berth in the Division II State Soccer Championships. Waialua lost to Mid-Pac at the state tournament, its only loss of the year, and tied Honokaa 1-1 in the fifth-place game, but the celebration of what was an extraordinary season for the Bulldogs has yet to subside.
“The kids worked hard for it, and they’re still talking about it,” said Rosa, who was chosen as the White Conference Coach of the Year by his peers.“I’ve been telling the kids that someday they’d be champions. We would get there sooner than later. Now, I tell them we have to defend our title (in 2010). We’ll have to work twice as hard.”
For his part, Galapia proved quite an addition to the Bulldogs after transferring from Kahuku, which he had attended on a geographic exemption. His 12 goals led Waialua this season. In fact, the Bulldogs only gave up four goals in 2009.
“Branden has come a long way,” John Rosa said of Galapia, who was a First Team selection in 2008 with Kahuku. “He’s a big young man, 6-foot and about 160 pounds. He’s always first to the ball, and he’s tough to get through, defensively. When he’s on the field, he’s almost a different person. He has total concentration. He just gets it done.”
Although only a sophomore, Kamalei Rosa is was already well-established after a solid freshman season last spring. His play at mid-field was key to Waialua’s success on both sides of the ball.
“I can put him at any position, and he’ll do well,” John Rosa said. “He’s a natural athlete. He brought a lot of spark to the team with his skills and his knowledge of the game. He’s also has good vision.
“Together, they clicked,” he added of both players. “They can play with each other.”
All told, Waialua consumed five of the 12 spots on the White’s All-Star team.Also making the First Team were defender Kainoa Rosa, the team’s second-leading scorer with six tallies, fellow defender Arthur A.J. Hernandez (five goals) and mid-fielder Anthony Saito.
In Division I, both OIA champion Mililani and fellow Red West team Leilehua both were well-represented on All-Conference lists, with eight First Team selections between them. The Trojans, who won their 11th overall OIA title in the last 15 years under coach Jeff Yamamoto this season, placed attackers Aaron Yokoyama and Cory Nakagawa on the First Team as well as defender Kyle Suan.
Leilehua, which was the Red West’s hard luck team in 2009 with seven ties to go with their two wins and three defeats, placed a league-best five players on the First Team. Senior goalkeeper Daniel Dartt, who yielded a league-low 7 goals in 12 encounters, leads the way. He was joined on the First Team by teammates Maika Kunioka (mid-fielder), Ryan Ten Broeke (defender), Evan Igarashi (mid-fielder) and Jackson Brumblay (defender).
Leilehua head coach James Cabralda was selected as the Red West Coach of the Year. The Mules also had six players - Corey Dartt, Jon Huynh, Sly Izumigawa, Cameron Keawe, Brenden Nagaji and Ken Tom - named to the Honorable Mention team.
Earning Honorable Mention from Mililani were Westin Alcover, Glen Fukuda, John Fukumoto, Preston Miyashiro, Jake Sagami, Philip Sakaba, Landon Salvador and Ryan Yoneda.
E-mail this story | Print this page | Comments (0) | Archive | RSS
Most Recent Comment(s):
