Head coach Frank Baumholtz III did not like the casualness his Pearl City team displayed in the second half of Thursday’s 3-0 victory over Hilo in the Division I quarterfinals of The Queen’s Medical Center/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Girls Soccer State Championships.
The Chargers (14-1) cruised to the win in the second half at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium after taking a 2-0 halftime lead. They’ll meet Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion and second-seeded ‘Iolani (11-0-2) in tonight’s semifinals.
“Before the game today, a couple of players said, ‘Oh gee, I’m really worried,’ ” Baumholtz said. “I just told them, ‘Hey, it’s just a game. We’re not supposed to win; we’re not seeded; they’re seeded, so let’s take it to them.’ And I think we did that very efficiently. After that we relaxed and that got me mad. They went casual. We’re winning 2-0 and 2-0 is a horrible score. Hilo gets one and it’s 2-1 and you’re in trouble.”
Freshman Sunshine Fontes scored twice for Pearl City, including the first on a header from Bree Fuller in the 12th minute for a 1-0 lead.
“I’m excited we got through this challenge and am ready for the next challenge,” Fontes said. “They (the Vikings) started to play hard in the second half.”
Vikings freshman goalkeeper Saydee Bactad made 12 saves and the Chargers fired off 29 shots. Bactad got some help from another freshman, defender Kalamanamana Harman, who incredibly cleared the ball away from the goal line three times in the span of about 10 seconds on shots by Pearl City’s Randi Fontes, Jenise Starr Tagalog and Daelenn Tokunaga.
Tokunaga made it 2-0 with a goal in the 23rd minute on a breakaway after taking a through ball from Fontes, who added the team’s third goal in the 71st minute.
“We played much better in the second half,” said Hilo coach Skee Saplan, whose Vikings (11-1) won the Big Island Interscholastic Federation title in undefeated fashion and came into the states as the No. 3 seed. “Pearl City’s pace and their technical ability kind of got us on our heels. We’re not really used to their speed of play and their physicality. It was a building year for us, with many freshmen in there, so we wanted to see what we can work on for the future.”
Harman was not at all disappointed in the loss and was still smiling afterward.
“This (state tournament) is new to me because I’m a freshman and I just love playing. We always have next time.”
In a preseason encounter, ‘Iolani defeated Pearl City 6-2.
“They beat us soundly before, so we’re not supposed to win,” Baumholtz said. “So we just gotta come out and play together. For this group to be fourth, it’s incredible, third, second, first — any of that is special.”
SCHEDULE
At Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex
Division I
Today
semifinals
‘Iolani vs. Pearl City, 5 p.m., main stadium
Baldwin vs. Mililani, 7 p.m., main stadium
Fifth-place semifinals
Kamehameha vs. Campbell, 3 p.m., field 7
Kamehameha-Maui vs. Hilo 3 p.m, field 8
CONSOLATION
Castle vs. Moanalua, 1 p.m., field 7
Saturday
Championship
Semifinal winners, 7 p.m., main stadium
third place
Semifinal losers, 3 p.m., field 9
fifth place
Fifth-place semifinal winners, 3 p.m., field 7
Division II
Toda
semifinals
Kapaa vs. KS-Hawaii, 1 p.m., main stadium
Hawaii Prep vs. Kauai, 3 p.m., main stadium
FIFTH-PLACE SEMIFINALS
Waialua vs. Pac-Five, 3 p.m., field 9
Makua Lani vs. Kalaheo, 3 p.m., field 10
consolation
Leilehua vs. Seabury Hall, 1 p.m., field 8
Saturday
Championship
Semifinal winners, 5 p.m., main stadium
third place
Semifinal losers, 3 p.m., field 10
fifth place
Fifth-place semifinal winners, 3 p.m., field 8.
