Hawaii Prep’s dynasty continued unabated Saturday.
Ka Makani avenged a previous loss to Kamehameha-Hawaii with a 4-0 victory over the Warriors on Saturday in the Division II final of The Queen’s Medical Center/HHSAA Girls Soccer State Championships.
Chalk that up as the sixth koa trophy in a row for Hawaii Prep (17-2-1) under coach Stephen Perry. It was also the third time in four years that Ka Makani wrapped it up against the Big Island rival Warriors at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
“We came into this game hungry,” Hawaii Prep center midfielder Jenna Perry said. “The BIIF (a 3-2 title-game overtime loss to Kamehameha-Hawaii last week) didn’t go our way. This game, we just said, ‘We know what we can do. Let’s play like we’ve been playing.’ We were dialed in and focused and playing like we never have before.”
Thanks to the left-footed Malia Brost’s deadly first-half shooting, Hawaii Prep sprinted out to a 4-0 halftime lead. Brost had three of those goals, including two from extreme angles.
Brost’s first goal was on a 35-yard free kick. Her second was a bender from just inside the right corner flag that she placed in the far upper left corner of the goal. Brost nearly duplicated that one on her third tally, again from the deep right corner. This time, she finished off a set-play, corner-kick, give-and-go with Angela Cipriano that once again hit the far upper corner.
“Malia has always had an amazing shot,” said Ka Makani senior captain and striker Emi Higgins, who has been a part of the last four titles. “Her shot has been getting more and more potent as the season goes on and she peaked tonight. It was so perfect and I’m so happy for her.”
Cipriano had Ka Makani’s other goal, converting on a cross by Higgins, who had previously received a feed from Alianna West.
The Warriors’ best two chances to get on the scoreboard — by Kaila Ambrosio — came in the 75th minute. Her first attempt on a breakaway went a few feet wide. On the second one, she collided with Ka Makani goalkeeper Maia Mills, who dove in front of the ball to block it as Ambrosio was getting a shot off.
“Nobody wants to lose like that,” Kamehameha-Hawaii coach Joshua Woodard said. “We came out flat in the first half and it showed. They put four in the back of the net on us. The second half was a lot better. If we had that same energy in the first half, who knows? The game may have turned out different.”
The Warriors (13-5) did not have an answer for Brost. Asked to comment about those superb goals, Woodard said, “Which one? They were all nice, perfectly placed. We didn’t force her to her right and she had a free swing. If you give someone like that a free swing, they’re going to score. It was great to get here, but we’re still trying to get over that hump.”
