HONOLULU — For at least a day, Hawaii Preparatory Academy head coach Steve Perry can say he has more championships than the New England Patriots.
On Saturday, Perry’s Ka Makani rolled to their sixth consecutive HHSAA Division II state title with a 4-0 victory over Kamehameha-Hawaii.
Does that make him a better coach than Bill Belichick, the future Hall of Fame skipper of the Patriots, who is going for his sixth title today against the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII? In football, probably not. But when it comes to girls soccer in Hawaii, there are few better than Perry.
However, as a Pats fan, Perry isn’t hoping he holds the edge for very long.
“They still have one game so we will see what happens,” Perry said. “If Tom Brady can come through it will be a real special weekend.”
In a repeat performance of last season, Hawaii Prep lost to Kamehameha in the BIIF title tilt, but managed to avenge the loss in the state tournament — and they did so in dominating fashion at Oahu’s Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.
Ka Makani scored all four of their goals by halftime, with sophomore midfielder Malia Brost picking up a hat trick. Hawaii Prep controlled 70 percent of the possession in the first 40 minutes, and outshot the Warriors 6-1.
“We were definitely ready and I give the girls a lot of credit for that,” Perry said. “They were focused. It was a coach’s dream.”
Hawaii Prep and Kamehameha are no strangers on the pitch. The two have met in eight straight league title games, with Ka Makani winning the first six. This was also the third time in four years that both schools have played each other for the state crown.
In the two previous meetings, Hawaii Prep won 1-0 and 3-2. Their BIIF title match a week ago went into overtime before Kamehameha pulled out a 3-2 victory.
However, Saturday told a different story, in a game that was nearly decided by the break.
“At the half they were already celebrating a little bit so we had to get them relaxed and calm,” Perry said. “We controlled the second half too. We were not just on defense and in shut down mode. The girls stayed composed and really matured.”
Brost was the main catalyst. She put the team on the scoreboard in the 9th minute with a blast from 40 yards out that went top shelf, near the far post, and just out of the reach of the Warriors’ freshman keeper Kaylia Galindo.
Brost added her second and third goal in the final minutes of the half — one off a free kick from near the corner that hopped into the net, and the other a lob shot that floated over the keeper’s reach off an assist by Angela Cipriano.
“She had the golden foot,” Perry said. “She was at the end of each shot but the difference was her and Jenna Perry up the middle. They controlled the entire pitch. They were phenomenal together.”
Cipriano scored Ka Makani’s second goal of the game in the 34th minute off an assist by senior Emi Higgins. Higgins brought the ball inside the box and pushed it to Cipriano inside the six. Cipriano tapped it in.
With a big halftime lead, Hawaii Prep made sure to play as close to mistake free as possible over the final 40 minutes, without giving up too many shots on their side of the pitch.
Late in the second half, Kamehameha made a couple of runs at the goal. With six minutes to play, senior Kaila Ambrosio took a wide open shot, but the ball rolled just to the outside of the left post.
One minute later, Ambrosio had the ball just outside the box with no one in front of her except for Hawaii Prep junior keeper Maia Mills. Mills darted out from the net and made a sliding block of the kick to preserve the shutout.
“We tried to keep it clean back there and we were confident in Maia,” Perry said. “She is confident in herself too.”
Defense was key to the state title run. Hawaii Prep did not allow a goal in four state tournament games.
“We made a change in personnel on defense about a month ago, moving Kahele Walsh back there with Ruby Helmuth,” Perry said. “That is just what we needed with her size and knowledge of the game. They owned the back line and Zoe Ganley had one of her best weekends of the season. Jordan Perry and Ruby are both freshmen. They played the entire 80 minutes in the last two games and really grew up.”
With the loss, Kamehameha falls just short on its title chase. But by claiming their second straight league title, the season was still a successful one. Kamehameha has not won a state championship since 2008.
“We won BIIFs but the ultimate goal is the win states. But I guess second place isn’t that bad,” said Warriors head coach Josh Woodard. “HPA was the hungrier team. They got the best of us today.”
WILDCATS PLACE THIRD
Konawaena defeated Kekaulike 1-0 in the third place game to wrap up the Division I state tournament.
Melina Ramirez put the Wildcats up in the 20th minute.
