Hawaii Prep works to keep Division II dynasty rolling

Hawaii Prep capped a half-decade of state supremacy Saturday night, but its 3-2 victory over Kamehameha-Hawaii was no cakewalk at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.

After a tenuous 2-2 first half, Ka Makani were fortunate to forge ahead for good eight minutes into the second half. Jordan Zarate’s low blast off of Mari Camacho’s corner kick held up as the game-winner to wrap up Ka Makani’s fifth straight Division II title in The Queen’s Medical Center/HHSAA Girls Soccer State Championships.

The Warriors (12-5), who were going for their second state crown and first since 2008, stayed with Hawaii Prep step for step most of the contest. But Kamehameha-Hawaii’s scoring chances began to dwindle the more time went on. The Warriors’ relentlessness early on took its toll and they wound up packing their defensive end, unable to crack Ka Makani’s impressive ball possession and defense.

“I don’t think we played our smartest in the first half,” Hawaii Prep coach Steve Perry said. “We gave their big strikers too much space and laid off. We tightened that up in the second half and it helped.”

Hawaii Prep’s win avenged a loss to Kamehameha-Hawaii in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation championship game two weeks ago and kept their D-II dynasty intact. Ka Makani won the season’s first meeting between the two teams, 3-1, but the Warriors surprised them for the league title, winning 1-0 (5-4 PKs).

Perry, whose team was playing in its seventh straight title game, doesn’t put too much stock into the five in a row thing.

“This championship is the first one for this (particular) group,” he said. “It was our motto all year long to get one for them. They’re not going to be together next year.”

Unlike two years ago, when Ka Makani (15-2) beat the Warriors 1-0 in the state final, this one was full of action and offense in the first half. Eleven minutes in, HPA went up 1-0 on a goal that Camacho also had a hand in. The senior midfielder sent a pass up the right side to Teah Van Bergen, and she managed a cross to the middle to Emi Higgins, who one-touched it home.

Just five minutes later, the Warriors fought back to knot it 1-1 on Kaila Ambrosio’s 40-yard direct kick screamer that hit the crossbar and post at the top right and dropped in.

“I thought I put too much on it,” Ambrosio said. “I didn’t think it was going in, but it dipped at the last second. I don’t even think the keeper thought it was going in.”

Each team struck once more before the half ended. HPA’s Kahele Walsh redirected Emi Higgins’ low kick into the goal, but a minute later Hiilei Wong-Yuen — after the Warriors intercepted a cleared ball — made it 2-2 by going around a defender and driving home an 18-foot shot to the low right.

“We just got unlucky,” Kamehameha-Hawaii coach Joshua Woodard said. “From where we started to where we are now, it’s a big improvement. I’m happy for the girls.”

Ambrosio, a junior who committed to UNLV as a sophomore, knows the Warriors could have played better on defense.

“We had a loss of focus,” she said about all three goals. “We could have stopped those goals if we marked up the players. It was just unmarked players.”

Camacho, who Perry said was hurt for a good chunk of Ka Makani’s run to the title a year ago, was glad to get one before graduating.

“We just really channeled our inner beasts and we played our game,” she said. “We had our heads up the whole game and were positive. They retaliated back, but we just kept going and played our game and that made all the difference. (In the second half), we focused on pouncing on every one of their touches. We were winning balls in the middle, the outside and the back. We really shut them down.”