Santos, Hurricanes record shutout over Na Alii in OIA West play


Kapolei's Abigail Santos records a save off a breakaway shot by Aiea's Jessica Morris in the 61st minute. Michael Lasquero | SL

There was no rain in the skies, but the night still belonged to the Hurricanes.

Senior keeper Abigail Santos recorded over a dozen saves to power host Kapolei over Aiea, 2-0, Tuesday in an OIA West match at the Alvin Nagasako Athletic Complex.

The Hurricanes improved to 4-2-1 with the win while Na Alii suffered its first shutout of the year and dropped to 3-3.

After a scoreless first half, Jannie Gonzales scored the go-ahead goal in the 46th minute after a miscue by the Aiea defense. Sayuri Williams added an insurance goal in the 75th minute after finishing off a free kick opportunity.

Aiea was the aggressor early on, but Santos rose to the occasion to help the Hurricanes record their second straight win. All of Kapolei's victories so far this season have come via shutout.

Not bad for someone playing the position for the first time.

"She's normally in the field, but unfortunately we didn't have anybody that can play that spot," second-year Kapolei coach Kirsten Kamano said of Santos. "She stepped up, she volunteered to play that spot and she's doing an awesome job."

Santos also shook off an injury in the first half after hitting her head.

"In the second half it didn't really show," said Kamano. "We made sure she was fine and she came out and did an awesome job."

The Kapolei keeper's biggest stretch came between the 58th and 61st minute. On the first corner kick of the second half, Aiea delivered a ball towards the opposite post that connected with a player for a nice header — but Santos was right there to clean up the shot.

"That was amazing, I didn't even see her until she popped out at the last minute," Kamano said of the play.

A few moments later, Aiea's Jessica Morris got past the Kapolei backline and created a breakaway opportunity for herself. Morris made it all the way into the box before firing a shot that Santos was able to stop.

Aiea had many opportunities in the game, but was able to connect on a number of passes. One of the bad connections resulted in Kapolei's first goal.

A pass back to the Aiea keeper was too fast for her to receive and Gonzales was able to track the ball down for what essentially was an empty-net goal. It was the senior captain's first goal of the year.

"I would say that was a lucky break, luckily Jannie was following that ball," said Kamano. "If she didn't put pressure on that, I don't think that would have happened."

Williams recorded her second goal of the season in as many games when she finished off a free kick by Krista Cox after the ball hit a few other players.



Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].