KEAAU – For Keaau coach Richard Handy, it was good to have company on the bench.
Ten – let alone eight or nine players – was never enough, but the reinforcements arrived just in time for the Cougars to rewrite their school record books.
Playing with the full complement and three substitutes Monday against Kealakehe, Keaau finally broke through against the Big Four, winning a play-in game 4-2 to reach the BIIF Division I playoffs for the first time.
“The girls are pretty excited,” Handy said. “We were nervous because you never know what to expect.”
Annually the odd-team when going up against Hilo, Waiakea, Konawaena and Kealakehe on the pitch, the Cougars (2-9) will play the top-seeded top-seeded Vikings at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Hilo Bayfront.
Karli-Rose Ferrari and Maurice Riingen, who had a knack for getting behind the Waveriders’ defense, each scored two goals apiece.
“Hopefully, we can slow them down a little bit and we can release the ball quickly to our own teammates,” Handy said of the Cougars’ first postseason assignment.
It will help to be able to field 11 players again Wednesday.
Keaau was down to eight players for a match this season, Handy said, and Keaau was shorthanded in a 5-2 loss at Waverider Stadium earlier this month. The Cougars were at full strength last Wednesday in a 3-1 home win against Kealakehe, and they won a coin flip to get home field for the play-in game.
“The girls were asking me if Keaau had ever been to the playoffs, and I told them I didn’t think so,” Handy said.
Kealakehe’s Alysha Prados scored the first goal of the game and Breana Arakawa tacked on a goal in the second half. The Waveriders are five years removed from their last BIIF championship and their last appearance in the HHSAA tournament came in 2013.
Even if the Cougars lose Wednesday, Handy might not be done yet this season. He’s the only BIIF soccer coach to lead boys and girls teams, and Keaau (5-7, 15 points) can reach the postseason if Konawaena (4-5-2, 14) loses Saturday at home against Makua Lani.
If the Lions and Wildcats play to a draw, then Keaau is ticketed for another play-in match for the No. 4 seed.
“My goodness,” Handy said. “Never ending.”