With two wins on the young season, the Kealakehe girls soccer program is already showing improvement from last year. The Waveriders easy defeated Ka’u — a team that has struggled to field 11 players this season and that played with the bare minimum on Monday — 9-0 with the game going nearly the full 80 minutes.
For Kealakehe, the goal for the 2017-18 season is simple, to finish with a winning record.
“We are still trying to develop this program,” said Waveriders head coach Kim Evans. “It is not going to happen overnight and I want the girls to stay encouraged and know they are apart of the building process.”
On Monday, the game against Ka’u was decided early, allowing plenty of time for Evans to get every person on the team some playing time. This was especially good, considering the large freshman class that has joined Kealakehe this season.
Not only have the Waveriders received an influx of young players, they are talented as well, helping to form the core of this team.
Several of the freshmen have worked into starting roles, most notably in the midfield with the trio of Audrey Weir, Riley Blaber and Aaliyah Aukai-Takata.
“Those three help to form the spine of the lineup and they help push the intensity at practice,” Evans said. “It is wonderful to see freshmen pushing the pace. We have not always had that.”
The freshman, nine in all, are led by team captains Dorrell Kamauu and Sachi Isobe. Kamauu is a senior, center-midfielder, and Isobe is a junior, center-back.
“Both are first year captains and have been with the program since we first started to rebuild with just two returning girls,” Evans said. “They have both put the work in, in the offseason, and lead by example.”
“Sachi gives you everything she has and will never give up. She will keep pushing unless we see she needs to come off the field,” Evans added. “Dorell is more soft spoken but works very hard. She does what we ask her to do. There is not much glory on defense.”
Against Ka’u, seven different players scored a goal against. Isobe scored twice, the first coming off a shot from inside the six late in the first half, and the second, on a header coming off a cross from Weir, midway through the second half.
Freshman Elizabeth Griesser also put the ball in the back of the net twice. Also scoring were Anela Jones, a freshman starter on the backline, Aukai-Takata, sophomore Meiling Kam, junior Breana Arakawa and senior Anna Moon.
The Waveriders made a choice to play the last 25 minutes of the game with only nine players on the pitch. Kealakehe still controlled possession, scoring the final goal with a little over two minutes to play.
“We have a great group of positive, hard working young girls,” Evans said. “I believe they will do well if they just keep working.”