HAWAII 50 RETAINS NATIONAL TITLE

Congratulations to the HAWAII 50 women's soccer team for successfully defending their Veteran's Cup title this past weekend in North Carolina. They won all their games by the scores 4-0, 4-0, 3-1, 2-1 & 3-0

TWO HAWAII TEAMS WIN USCS REGION F TITLES

Congratulations to MAUI UNITED HURRICANES U16 Boys and REAL HAWAII FC U14 Girls for claiming the US Club Soccer Region F titles this past weekend in Las Vegas. Maui United defeated Juventus Sport Quake 4-3 while Real HFC defeated Les Bois United 1-0. 

Two other Hawaii teams made it to the finals but lost their Championship games. HSC Bulls U17Girls lost 1-2 to Rebels Select Red while Real Hawaii FC 93 Girls lost the U13 title to Arsenal FC White 0-6.

6/11/06

MISO PROMOTION / RELEGATION PLAY-OFFS

Real Hawaii FC & Kamikaze earned Div I status for the MISO 2006-07 season after finishing 1st & 2nd in the 4 teams Promotion / Relegation play-offs. Going into the last day of competition, Kamikaze only needed a tie to secure a place, and they got just that by managing to come back from a 0-2 deficit to tie Brotherhood 2-2. After knowing the outcome of the first game, Real Hawaii knew that a tie with Focus would be enough to secure a place in Div I. However Real took it a step further and defeated Focus 3-0 to finish in 1st place. 

6/8/06

BULLS CLAIM 5th STRAIGHT ROBLEDO CUP

The HSC Bulls remains the only team to win the ROBLEDO CUP, as they claimed their 5th consecutive cup title tonight, by defeating Lanikai Tuesday 3-1 on goals by Jeremy Wittig, Kea Hashimoto and Holden Lau, while Josef Czech netted one for Lanikai Tuesday. Lanikai had become the only other team besides the Bulls, to reach the finals stage in more than one occasion, as this was their 2nd trip to the finals, making it a repeat of the 2003 finals, when the Bulls won 2-0.

6/4/06

BULLS & LANIKAI TUESDAY ADVANCE TO "ROBLEDO CUP" FINALS

On Sunday's MISO "Robledo" Cup semifinals, Lanikai Tuesday edged Real Hawaii FC 1-0 (goal by: Mark Mench), while defending four time Cup Champions HSC Bulls ended  Vaiete Premier's Spring '06 undefeated run also with a 1-0 score (goal by: Reid Woodward), and earned their 5th straight appearance in the Cup finals. The HSC Bulls are so far the only team to have won the "Robledo" Cup, as they've claimed it in its first four years. This will be the 2nd time that Lanikai reaches the Cup final (2003 was the other time).

5/29/06

VAIETE PREMIER & KAMIKAZE CLAIM MISO TITLES

Once again, if you missed Sunday’s MISO Championships, you’ve missed a couple of great games.

Div II Finals:  The day started with the Div II Championship, which faced Kamikaze and Focus for the 3^rd time this season. In its previous encounters, Kamikaze had prevailed in both games with a 3-0 score. Focus, just coming off their upset over top ranked Bulls Juniors (1-0) was hoping to revert things. The game started with a much-disputed PK, which was called only 9 min into the game.  Kamikaze’s Chad Saito took the shot and gave Kamikaze an early 1-0 lead.  Later in the half, Ryan Kaneshiro re-directed a shot into the net giving Kamikaze a 2-0 half-time lead.

Focus searched thru the game for that much allusive goal, but some poor decisions along with a well-organized Kamikaze defense denied them once again from scoring against Kamikaze. Mid way thru the 2^nd half, Div II MVP & Leading Scorer Whitney Shimatsu, sealed the game by scoring Kamikaze’s 3^rd and final goal.  Once again the final score between these two teams was 3-0. The teams will meet again for a 4^th encounter on June 7, in the Promotion/Relegation Play-Offs.

Div I Finals:  Top seeded Vaiete Premier was looking at keeping its undefeated streak alive, while the Dawgs were looking for another upset on their way to their first championship ever. This game could be broken down into 4 key moments.  1) The start of this game was very similar to the Div II start, as another disputed PK started things off in the 13^th min. Olav Fyrileiv took the shot to give Vaiete an early 1-0 lead.  2) In the 18^th min of the game, Dawgs 1st Team All-Star forward, Shaun Callahan, rolled his ankle and had to be carried off the field. Although Callahan returned to the game late in the half and played most of the 2^nd half, it was apparent that the injury had affected his play. This was a big blow to the Dawgs offensive chances. The game had now become a battle of mid field possession, where Vaiete dominated most of the first half, while the Dawgs tried to close the gaps and went in search of counter attacks. However either team created few scoring chances.  3) During the 1^st half injury time, a Dawgs defensive giveaway gave Vaiete a 2 on 1 breakaway, which they didn’t waste, as Adolfo Gentil dove to head Majell Aterado’s cross and put the score at 2-0 in favor of Vaiete.  4) With Vaiete leading 2-0 and controlling the midfield, it seemed as the 2^nd half would be a long 45 min for the Dawgs. However, with only 43 seconds into the 2^nd half, Vaiete’s Kahili Hernandez received a straight red for a violent kick to a Dawgs player. This changed things rapidly, as now Vaiete found itself one-man down and had to scramble to readjust, while the Dawgs saw an opportunity to take control of the game. The Dawgs took control of the midfield and slowly started to create some scoring chances. John Alcala was finally able to break Vaiete’s defensive line in the 62^nd min, as he headed home from a yard away a well placed cross by George Lee. With the score 2-1 and about 25 min left to play, Vaiete was now forced to protect its lead by creating a defensive wall and resorted to quick counter attacks thru it lone forward. The Dawgs kept pressuring for the equalizer and came close on a couple of occasions, but poor communication at shooting time and a good save by Vaiete’s Matthew Terry off a Dawgs free kick, kept the Dawgs from scoring again. On the other end, Dawgs’ goalkeeper Daniel Wagner was now playing a keeper/sweeper role, and with about 5 min left he made a big one on one save on Adolfo Gentil that could have sealed the game. Although Lanikai’s goalkeeper Josh Fouts was selected as the League’s MVP, Daniel Wagner had to be the MVP goalkeeper of the playoffs… Final score: Vaiete Premier 2 – Dawgs 1.

 Robledo Cup:  The Robledo Cup semi-finals are set. On Sunday 6/4, Lanikai Tuesday will host Real Hawaii FC at 1:00pm, while four time defending champions and only team to win the Cup, HSC Bulls will host Vaiete Premier at 3:00pm. The winners will face each other in the Championship match, on Thursday 6/8, 7:00pm, at Ala Wai field.

 Promotion / Relegation Play-Offs:  The teams are now all set to play. The play-offs will begin on Thursday 6/1 with Real Hawaii vs Focus (6:00pm) and Kamikaze vs Brotherhood (7:45pm). Things will resume the following day, Friday 6/2 with Focus vs Brotherhood (6:00pm) and Real Hawaii vs Kamikaze (7:45pm). The play-offs will conclude on Wednesday 6/7 with Kamikaze vs Focus (6:00pm) and Real Hawaii vs Brotherhood (7:45pm). All Promotion/Relegation games will be played at Ala Wai field.

5/25/06

DAWGS & FOCUS MAKE THEIR 1ST TRIP TO THE MISO FINALS

If you missed last Sunday’s MISO Div I & II semifinals, you missed 4 great games.

Semifinals Sunday started on field #5, with Div II’s Focus taking on Div II’s top ranked team and undefeated Sullivan Trophy winners Bulls Juniors (13-0-1). Focus had already put the only blemish on Bulls Junior record with a  0-0 tie on 4/9/06. This time, Focus took it a step further, as they puched their ticket to the Div II Championship by upsetting the Bulls Juniors 2-0, on goals by Brenden Lum and Roland Takishita.

By the start of the 2^nd half, the first Div I semifinal was kicking-off in the Waipio Stadium. This was a battle of the undefeated as Lanikai Tuesday (8-0-6) faced Div I’s top ranked team and Sullivan Trophy winners Vaiete Premier (12-0-2). During their season’s encounter, neither team could prove to be superior, as both games ended up tied at 2-2 and 0-0. This time wasn’t going to be any different. The first half was an evenly played affair, as both teams fought for mid-field control and went forward in search of the opponents’ goal. During the 2^nd half, Vaiete Premier took control of the possession, while Lanikai Tuesday sat back closing all the gaps and timed its counter attacks. Lanikai’s 2^nd half tactics almost paid off, as one of their counter attacks ended with the ball striking the cross bar and another one two minutes later caused Vaiete’s goalkeeper to make a diving save on a shot that was bound for the upper corner. Regulation time ended in a scoreless tie and the game had to go into two 10 min overtime periods which were very similar to the 2^nd half. As the score remained 0-0, the match proceeded to a dramatic PK shoot-out. All 10 kickers made their first round shots, so it proceeded to a sudden death shoot-out.  A well-placed shot by Lanikai was brilliantly saved by Vaiete’s goalkeeper Matthew Terry and on the ensuing kick, Vaiete’s kicker was able to make good on his try despite Lanikai’s goalkeeper getting a hand on it.  The final shoot-out score was 6-5 in favor of Vaiete Premier, which punched its ticket to the MISO Div I Championship.

Meanwhile on field #5, Kamikaze and Vaiete Open were disputing the 2^nd Div II semifinal game. On their season’s only encounter, Vaiete Open defeated Kamikaze 1-0. However Kamikaze, which finished Div II with the 2^nd best record (11-3-0), had other plans. Div II leading scorer  Whitney Shimatsu found the back of the net early in the game, to give Kamikaze a 1-0 lead. The game became an evenly played affair. However late in the game, Vaiete pushed forward searching for the equalizer, but a well-organized Kamikaze defense denied any chances that Vaiete could create. Final score was 1-0 for Kamikaze, which will now meet Focus in the Div II Championship.

The 2^nd Div I semifinal was being played in the stadium, where defending champions HPU White faced the “pesky” Dawgs, who were making their 2^nd ever appearance in the semifinals. The first half, which lacked a sense of intensity, was partially dominated by HPU White. Mid way thru the half, HPU’s midfielder Iovo Stefanov broke the deadlock and put HPU ahead 1-0. Things changed however in the 2^nd half. The intensity of the match grew stronger as the Dawgs started to play “full-court” pressure, going after every ball, as it was their last one. HPU seemed momentarily shocked and had a hard time adjusting to this new challenge. However, they didn’t just sit back to protect their lead. A couple of counter attacks almost gave them a 2-0 lead, but a combination poor decisions and great goalkeeping kept the score at 1-0. As the game wore on, the Dawgs were somehow able to increase their pressure, and it paid off, as they were awarded a PK with just 2 minutes left in regulation time. With all the pressure on his back, Dawg’s Paul McElroy stepped up to the challenge and calmly executed his shot to give the Dawgs the much-deserved tie. Regulation ended tied at 1-1 and this semifinal also had to go into OT (this was the first time in MISO’s history that two semifinal games were decided after regulation). Both teams seemed exhausted during the OT, but their determination to score a goal didn’t hold them back. HPU twice came close to score within the first OT period, but Dawgs’ goalkeeper Daniel Wagner (a former HPU player) made a couple of HUGE saves to keep the score tied and send the game to another PK shoot-out. Dawgs’ Daniel Wagner wasn’t about to let his game heroics go to waste, and became the decisive factor during the shoot-outs, as he made two saves to send the Dawgs to their first ever MISO Championship.

The MISO Div I & II Championships are scheduled to be played this coming Sunday (5/28) in conjunction with the HYSA State Championships, at the Waipio Soccer Stadium. The game times are at 2:30pm (Div II) and 4:30pm (Div I).

5/24/06

ROBLEDO CUP

Two quarterfinals remain to see who’ll be joining Vaiete Premier and Real Hawaii into the semifinals of the MISO Robledo “Open” Cup. Lanikai Tuesday and Latin Hawaii meet this Friday (5/26) at 7:30pm, to see who’ll meet Real Hawaii in the first semifinal. Bulls and Dawgs will meet on Monday (5/29) also at 7:30, to see who meets Vaiete Premier on the other semifinal. The semifinals are scheduled to be played on Sunday 6/4 at Waipio, while the Championship game is set for Thursday 6/8 at Ala Wai field, at 7:00pm.

5/18/06

MISO SPRING 2006 PLAY-OFFS 

The Men's Island Soccer Organization in Honolulu, Hawaii has produced another rivalry laden playoff.

Lanikai Tuesday FC punched their ticket to the four team tournament on the last day of the season with a victory over Real Hawaii that sent powerhouse squad Honolulu Bulls out of the Playoffs.

Lanikai will join their arch rivals Hawaii Pacific University White in the playoffs along with  Jack Sullivan trophy winners (regular season champions) Vaiete Premier and the pesky determined Dawgs. 

The action starts this Sunday at 2pm in Waipio Stadium, with Vaiete Premier hosting Lanikai Tuesday FC followed by HPU White vs Dawgs at 4pm.  The winners will play for the title on May 28th.

On the Division 2 side, Bulls Juniors, Kamikaze, Vaiete Open and Focus will battle it out for the Div 2 Cup. The action starts this Sunday at 1pm on field #5 with Bulls Juniors facing Focus followed by Kamikaze vs Vaiete Open at 3pm.

This years relegation battle will be a four team tournament featuring the 2nd & 3rd place Division 2 squads and the bottom two Division 1 teams.  Real Hawaii and Brotherhood are involved from Div. 1.  They will match up against Kamikaze from Div. 2 and either Focus or Viaete Open depending on the results of the Division 2 playoffs. The Promotion/Relegation Play-Offs will be held at Ala Wai field on 6/1, 6/2 & 6/7.  Bulls Juniors secured promotion to Div 1 by clinching the Div 2 Jack Sullivan trophy as the team with the best regular season record.

Aki Adachi of HPU White won the Division one scoring title with 14 goals.  Division 2's golden boot went to Whitney Shimatsu from Kamikaze with 16 goals. 

5/11/06

MISO SPRING 2006 PLAY-OFFS

The “rainy” MISO Spring 2006 Season is rapidly coming to an exciting end.

Sullivan Trophy: Congratulations to Vaiete Premier (11-0-2) and Bulls Juniors (11-0-1) for claiming this season’s Div I & II Jack Sullivan Trophies with one and two games to play. Now both teams will seek to finish their seasons undefeated.

Div I Play-Offs: Hawaiian powerhouse soccer teams Lanikai Tuesday FC and HSC Bulls battle down to the wire for the fourth and final Men's Island Soccer Organization Division 1 spring playoff position.
The HSC Bulls currently occupy the spot with 27 points from 13 matches, but Lanikai Tuesday have a game in hand and 26 points. In their final 2 matches Lanakai must face playoff bound Dawgs and relegation playoff bound Real Hawaii. Bulls have just one match remaining against League leading Vaiete Premeire. Hawaii Pacific University's White squad rounds out the Division 1 playoff picture.

The playoffs scheduled for 5/21/06 will be paired up as follows: Vaiete Premier –vs- either Lanikai Tuesday or HSC Bulls, and HPU White –vs- Dawgs

Div II Play-Offs: The Div II picture is a little clearer as all four teams already secured their places. Bulls Juniors, Kamikaze, Vaiete Open and Focus. On 5/21/06, the teams will be paired up as follows: Bulls juniors –vs- Focus and Kamikaze –vs- Vaiete Open.
The final regular season matches will be played this Sunday May 14th at the Waipio Soccer complex on Oahu.

Robledo Cup: The Robledo Cup is now ready to start its quarterfinals stages. It will feature four evenly match-ups. The first quarterfinal will be Cup Game T, played on Monday 5/15 between Vaiete Premier and HPU White. The second will be Cup Game Q on Friday 5/19 between Focus and Real Hawaii FC. The third will be Cup Game R on Friday 5/26 between Lanikai Tuesday FC and Latin Hawaii FC. The final quarterfinal will be Cup Game S between HSC Bulls and Dawgs on Monday 5/29. The semifinals scheduled for Sunday 6/4/06, will feature the winners of Cup Games Q –vs- R and S –vs- T. The Championship game is scheduled for Friday 6/9/06.

Promotion / Relegation Play-Offs: This year’s Promotion / Relegation Play-Offs will consist of a four team tournament which will feature Div I’s last two teams and Div II 2^nd and 3^rd finishers. The top two teams will earn promotion to Div I for next season. So far only Real Hawaii FC is in. Brotherhood needs to win it’s final 2 matches and hope that Latin Hawaii beats or ties Aloha Amazon to avoid participating. Any other results would send Brotherhood to the Promotion playoffs. On the Div II side, Kamikaze, Vaiete Open and Focus are the candidates to participate. Kamikaze could secure a place with a win on Sunday vs Watson Properties. Div II Sullivan Trophy winners Bulls Juniors, have already earned promotion to Div I for next season.