CJ Caraang | SL

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[email protected] - CJ Caraang | SL

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In a rematch of last years Hele/HHSAA Division II Boys Soccer State Championship, second-seeded Kapaa was able to get its revenge on first-seeded Kamehameha-Hawaii (KHS) 3-0 on Wednesday night at the Waipio stadium after being postponed due to weather from the original game date on Saturday.

"It means a lot. Coming back here is our revenge for last year because that was devastating," Kapaa's senior Omar Perez said, who was named the tournament's most outstanding player. "Now that we won this, it's just beautiful and for my senior year."

Despite the good weather during the game, the storm that postponed the match for four days left an impact on the field. Players on both teams were slipping and struggling to keep possession. With the field getting chopped up as the game went on, both teams resorted to long balls. Kapaa (13-0-2) refused to let the field take away its unbeaten season and found a way to win its fourth state title, with the last time being in 2019.

"You saw the slipping and the sliding going on, and so opportunities of balls going through were happening on both sides," Kapaa's head coach Kevin Cram said. "You would see a player go down, and it's tough because you know they were in position for the play. The field was detrimental to both sides."

KHS led the stats with 16 shots compared to Kapaa's 14 shots, but was only able to find the target on two shots. The lack of composure in front of the goal and the defensive stand by Kapaa led to KHS being shut out for the first time this season. This was uncharacteristic for KHS who had 61 goals this season and had senior Micah Chung, who led the state in goals with 20.

Kapaa came in with the game plan of defense first. This was nothing new for Kapaa, a team that only let up seven goals all season and only let up one in the state tournament.

"We knew we were up against the top goal scorer in the state, so the thought was if we could keep him out of the goal, there's a good chance they'll end up with a zero on the score sheet," said Cram. "So we worked hard on defensive support, working together, and scrimmaging ourselves gave us the best opportunity to learn that standard."

Even though defense was a highlight for Kapaa in the state championships, the real threat was its attack, which scored 73 goals all season. The starting three forwards for Kapaa all found the back of the net to score the three goals in the final.

The scoring began when Kapaa's junior Bear Miller picked up the ball in his own half and dumped a long ball behind the KHS defense. Perez was able to outrun the defenders to the ball and capitalize on KHS's goalkeeper Shayde Dela Cruz's hesitation. The left-footed finish in the 19th minute from Perez brought the crowd to life for Kapaa, who began chanting, "Let's go Kapaa."

Despite some pushback from KHS, Kapaa was able to grab a second goal in the 43rd minute. Kapaa's junior Keoni Dasalia slipped a through ball into the box that found junior Hunter Kerry, who blasted home his 18th goal of the season to give Kapaa a 2-0 lead.

The final goal came in the 65th minute with Perez this time assisting Miller to return the favor from the first goal. The perfectly weighted pass from Perez gave Miller just enough time to tap the ball past the KHS keeper and calmly place it into the goal, giving Kapaa a 3-0 lead.

"Miller, that's my boy, we've played together since we were five years old," said Perez. "It just happens, I heard him yell for the ball and I didn't even look back, just played it right to him."

KHS came out of the game defeated, but head coach Diego Gutierrez Chavez expressed how proud he was of the team for making it to the championship. For his first season at the helm, he felt the team did well despite having barely any home games, and the team will only grow from this moment.

For Kapaa, this Championship is bittersweet as the Warriors say goodbye to Cram, who has been the head coach since 2005. Being there for the team's previous three championships, it's only fitting that he capped off his coaching career with a fourth title. Cram will head on a mission trip to Peru in April for 18 months.

"I was hoping I would go out as a winner, and it feels good," said Cram.