Kapaa is a real player in Division II soccer.
The Warriors beat Saint Louis 1-0 on Saturady night, breaking through for their third title in The Queen’s Medical Center/HHSAA Boys Soccer Championships.
That’s number three for Kapaa (12-1-1), which also won it all in 2009 and ’13. Only Mid-Pacific, with four, has more.
The run for the Neighbor Islands also continued for the fourth year in a row. Kamehameha-Hawaii captured the title a year ago with a victory in the final over Kapaa, and that was preceded by two in a row by Hawaii Prep.
“We’re brothers,” said Warriors striker Ryan Banasihan, who is one of at least three from the team (along with Kahunu Davis and Chysen Lagunes-Rapozo) who also played on the Division II state runner-up football team. “It feels great to finally take the big one home. It wasn’t just one guy. It was a team effort. The defense just held it down tonight. I’m just so thankful we have such a good ‘D’.”
Kiran Costa, a center back, led that department, with help from a bunch of others. The plan was to mark Skyler Goo, the Crusaders’ prolific scorer.
They stopped him cold.
“We couldn’t do anything up forward,” said Goo, who will play for UNLV next season. “The whole back line was on me and I couldn’t do anything. In the second half, we had chances and we kept pushing.”
Said Kapaa coach Kevin Cram: “We relied on our outside backs to stop him first, try to prevent him from getting ball. If he did happen to get by the outside back, then we had a deeper back prepared to step up, with a rotation — even a second back that could come over and help. They did well.”
The Crusaders (10-3-2) were trying for their first state title. They were runners-up in 2017.
“It’s been a long journey,” Costa said. “We’ve been fighting for it the past couple of years. It’s blessing to be here and win this. We’re all so stoked and living in and loving the moment.”
HHSAA D-II State Boys Soccer
| Match # | Date | Matchup | Time/Scores | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feb. 7 | (1) KS-Hawaii vs. Waialua | KSH, 2-1 (OT) | Waipio |
| 2 | Feb. 7 | (4) Kapaa vs. Seabury Hall | Kapa, 2-1 | Waipio |
| 3 | Feb. 7 | (2) Saint Louis vs. Waipahu | StL, 3-0 | Waipio |
| 4 | Feb. 7 | (3) Kalaheo vs. Makua Lani | Kalh, 2-0 | Waipio |
| 5* | Feb. 8 | Waialua vs. Seabury Hall | SH, 8-0 | Waipio |
| 6* | Feb. 8 | Waipahu vs. Makua Lani | ML, 1-0 (PKs) | Waipio |
| 7 | Feb. 8 | KS-Hawaii vs. Kapaa | Kapa, 3-1 | Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium |
| 8 | Feb. 8 | Saint Louis vs. Kalaheo | StL, 1-0 | Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium |
| 9* | Feb. 9 | Seabury Hall vs. Makua Lani | ML, 2-1 | Waipio |
| 10* | Feb. 9 | KS-Hawaii vs. Kalaheo | Kalh, 2-0 | Waipio |
| 11 | Feb. 9 | Kapaa vs. Saint Louis | Kapa, 1-0 | Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium |
| * — consolation | ||||
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