Bears open MIL season with 4-3 win over 4-time defending champ Na Alii
Ebisu contributes two goals as Baldwin holds off King Kekaulike
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KAHULUI -- The King Kekaulike High School girls soccer team had not lost a Maui Interscholastic League match since 2019, but Baldwin changed that Wednesday on a chilly night at Keopuolani Park.
The Bears blasted out to a 3-0 lead and then held on to beat Na Alii 4-3 in the MIL opener for both teams.
King Kekaulike has won the last four MIL titles since Baldwin won it in 2017.
Tamilyn Ebisu, a junior midfielder, scored the last two of the Bears' goals on Tuesday.
"I think we played really well, we were really hyped for this game," Ebisu said. "We knew it was going to be kind of tough, but I think everybody did a really good job. It was a really good game, pretty exciting."
Ebisu sees a season-long run for the two MIL state spots. With Molokai joining the MIL Division II ranks, the D-I league season is now three rounds of play -- 12 matches make up the league slate, among D-I teams only.
"I think it's going to be a challenge; I'm looking forward to it, but I'm pretty confident in us," Ebisu said. "I really like this team."
Riza Santiago put the Bears on top 1-0 off an assist from Shay Okita in the 13th minute and by the 17th minute, it was 3-0.
Sammi Kinoshita smacked home the second goal after an impressive run from about 25 yards out, and Ebisu made it 3-0 two minutes later on a header off a corner kick from Santiago.
Journey Andaya's long free-kick goal in the 30th minute for King Kekaulike made it 3-1, which was the score at halftime.
Na Alii appeared to climb within one on a goal by Soana Akinaka in the 53rd minute, but the offsides flag went up on the play, nullifying the goal.
Ebisu made it 4-1 on a 30-yard rocket shot that beat MIL All-Star goalie Pua Farm in the 59th minute.
Kaelyn Andrade scored for King Kekaulike off a pass from Tori Zackious in the 61st minute to make it 4-2 -- the tally came moments after a stellar save by Farm triggered a counterattack.
Na Alii's Taite Taniguchi slammed home a rebound in the 70th minute to pull her team within one, but the Bears were able to weather the storm for the rest of the match.
Baldwin coach Dave Mena was excited to open with a win over the team that has dominated the MIL D-I ranks lately.
"They did (battle back), they did very well," Mena said of King Kekaulike. "We got a bit unorganized, which is something we need to work on, and we've got three rounds to work on it."
Mena said there are pros and cons to the three-round, 12-match regular season replacing the 10-match MIL seasons of the recent past.
"More matches, I can see as something that we need, but I worry about injury," he said.
Mena was happy with the offensive attack.
"It's been quite a few years since we've been able to get some goals in that fashion, against this team specifically," he said. "Very happy with our girls, very happy with how we've been working, developing and this year what we're going to be showing."
Mena added he thinks the MIL is a wide-open race.
"Yes, very wide open, we're looking for Kamehameha and King K to give us the battles and looking forward to the competition," he said.
Gundi Dancil, the longtime Na Alii head coach, said Baldwin is a tough team. His team just came off winning the title at the Hawaii Prep-hosted tournament on the Big Island over the weekend.
"Oh, no, they are, they looked good, they look organized in the middle, which we weren't surprised with that," Dancil said of Baldwin. "We got down quick and we told the ladies that we need to organize and not look back at what was happening to us, those quick goals scored against us.
"We made our mistakes and what happened in the second half, they came back, dug deep enough to where they said, 'That's enough.' "
* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.
Wednesday's other result
Kamehameha Maui girls 3, Maui High 0
Goal scorers--Kamehameha Maui: Ellie Kapua'ala 2 (15', 53'), Eva Keawekane (65').