Everybody’s Stepping Up On Surfriders’ Soccer Team
By Jack Danilewicz
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The script hasn’t changed for the Kailua girls soccer team, but the principals have. Surfrider coach Wil Kimura thought defense would be his team’s strength when preseason started last month, but he never envisioned having so many underclassmen rushed into action due to injuries.
“We thought it would be other people, but it’s nice to see people step up,” he said. “A lot of people have come off the bench and performed better than I expected. The defense has played amazing. They’re good kids, who are over-achieving, and that’s nice.”
Scouting reports have taken a back seat to injury reports as of late, making their 3-0 start all the more impressive.
“We came back from our trip to the Big Island beat up physically,” he said.“Of our 20 players, only 14 or 15 have been available, and we’ve had two or three playing who have been playing with no experience in soccer. It’s been good for the substitutes. They’ve gotten a lot of playing time, and it will help us. The main thing is we just want to heal up. They’re slowly starting to come back. In about a week, we’ll be back to full force.”
On that note, Kailua will welcome an open date on the schedule this week, giving them a couple of extra days to recuperate in anticipation of Saturday’s 2 p.m. showdown with OIA Division II West foe Waianae.
Kailua defeated Farrington (9-1), Nanakuli (3-0) and Radford (1-0) to account for its 3-0 record heading into last weekend’s game with McKinley. The game with Radford had ended in a 2-all tie, but was later forfeited by the Rams because of the use of an ineligible player. Ironically, although it goes down in the record books as a forfeit, the Surfriders played one of their better games, according to their coach, and the encounter can only benefit them in the long run.
“We were down 2-0 in that game, and everybody picked it up,” Kimura said.“We scored twice and had several more chances. It’s hard to come back from 2-0 with an inexperienced team. They’re all stepping up. Some of them are just happy to be out there, and they go really hard and do a good job.”
On the defensive end, Kailua’s goals-versus-goals-against ratio stood at 13-1 through its first three contests. Kimura credited the play of junior Taylor Mihara as a reason for success on that side of the ball.
“She’s really the only experienced one back there right now, and she’s stepped up quite a bit. She’s holding us up back there.”
Among the newcomers who have played beyond their years are freshman defender Caitlin Hooker, freshman mid-fielder Sierra Kadooka, and her sister Cheyenne, who is a sophomore and also a mid-fielder.
“Caitlin has played almost every minute of every game, and she’s been really tough, too,” Kimura said. “Both Sierra and Cheyenne have been playing the whole game, and both have stepped up quite a bit.”
Another boost has been the play of first-year senior Tiffany Pereza at mid-field and forward, and senior forward Tiffany Nakata, who missed all of last year with a torn ACL but has rebounded to lead the team in scoring to date with three goals in three games.
“Tiffany Pereza has been a godsend,” Kimura said. “She hasn’t played soccer in years, but she has speed and toughness. Tiffany Nakata has had an outstanding three games.”
Kimura also is expecting junior Halissia Luhan-Hanawahine to have a bigger impact in the coming days as she slowly recovers from an injury.
“She’s one we depend on - she’s experienced and fast.”
In Waianae Saturday, the Surfriders will play what Kimura calls “the toughest team we will face.” Originally a home game for the Seariders, the game was rescheduled and will now be played at Kailua, a welcome change for the Surfriders.
“They have 12 seniors, and that makes a big difference, maturity-wise and physically,” Kimura said of the Seariders, who have posted a pair of shutouts to open the season at 2-0. “We’ll have to find ways to counter their physical abilities. They’re always fast and strong. We need to move the ball with our passing - it’s the only way to counter that.”
Contact Jack Danilewicz at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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