Castle Girls Soccer: Tough Schedule But Still Hopeful
By Jack Danilewicz
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Tiffany Kishida and Emily Pak grapple for the ball. Photo by
Nathalie Walker, staff photographer.
The sense of urgency that coaches like their teams to perform with won’t be confined to the post-season this soccer season, to hear Castle girls coach Mark Kane tell it.
Indeed, with the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s realignment, there figures to be little margin for error when it comes to game-by-game preparation.
“It really puts you in a competitive-minded situation (all of the time) - you can’t have a bad game,” explained Kane. “You play tough teams every week, so there won’t be any breathers. It (the outcome of the league race) is going to depend on who’s on at the end of the season.”
With the OIA having split into two divisions, the Knights will play a regular season in which they will have a home and away series with Division I Moanalua, Kalaheo, Kailua, Kahuku, Kaiser and Kalani - teams that have usually been strong. Farrington, Roosevelt, McKinley and Kaimuki have been shifted to Division II and will not appear on the Knights’ schedule this winter. Previously, teams in the East met only once in the regular season.
“It’s going to be a dogfight,” Kane added regarding the league race. “Kalani is coming around, Kaiser has all of its scorers back, and Kalaheo and Kailua are always competitive. Don’t forget Kahuku, too.”
The good news for Kane’s club is the return of a strong defense that features three-year starters Crystal Kekauoha, Emily Pak and Britney Honma as well as junior Johnelle Franks, who is entering her second season as a member of the starting lineup.
“All three are solid, and we’ll look to Johnelle to be a leader next year,” Kane said. “Hopefully, they’ll give us time for our offense to come around.”
The Knights’ defensive efforts will also benefit from the return of goalkeeper Sarah Phromisiri. Now a senior, she started in the net for Castle as a sophomore before taking last season off to concentrate on basketball.
“Basketball is good training for goalkeepers,” Kane said of Phromisiri.“She’ll probably be the tallest goalkeeper in the league at 6-foot-1, and she has great hands. Size and hands go a long way for a goalkeeper.”
Offensively, the Knights’ attack will center around senior mid-fielder Tami Kalaiwaa, a three-year starter, and sophomore forward Shelby Furtado.
“Tami is good offensively and defensively. She’s a good ball-handler and a good distributor of the ball, which is what you want at that position. She’s definitely our offensive leader.
“Shelby has very good speed and a good shot,” Kane added. “We’re looking at her as a go-to person.”
The Knights have had a lot of success with freshmen in Kane’s tenure, and a talented first-year class is again in the fold this time around.
“Offense is the part we’re working on,” said Kane, whose team finished behind Moanalua and Kaiser (with a 5-1-4 record) in the East last season. “We have some young kids with talent. They just have to get the system down and learn to play together as a team. As they grow, we’ll grow. Most of them have good speed. Our thinking is that we’re going to be very competitive.”
The first test in what figures to be a first-class schedule will come at 5 p.m. on Thursday when Kane’s team meets traditional West power Mililani in the first round of the Leilehua-Castle Pre-Season Tournament at the Knights’ field. A game between Punahou and Baldwin follows at 7 p.m., with the winners of both games advancing to the title game at 7 p.m. Friday.
“I always like to get Mililani or Pearl City (on the Knights’ schedule) right at the beginning of the season,” Kane said. “In a month-and-a-half from now, we want to be coming along and playing our best. We have a lot of hope for the future.”
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