West Soccer Boys Battle It Out At OIA DI, DII Tournaments

For the Campbell, Kapolei, Pearl City and Waipahu boys soccer teams, no week will figure bigger than this one, as state tournament berths are on the line in the OIA Division I and II tournaments.

Campbell, Kapolei and Pearl City are competing in the OIA DI (Red) tournament, which was to begin on Monday and run through Saturday at various sites. The OIA DI championship game will be played at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Castle (and on OC-16). Waipahu will play in the OIA DII (White) tourney. The Marauders meet McKinley at Kaiser High Wednesday in a DII first-round game. The semifinals will follow Thursday with the DII title game at 5 p.m. Saturday at Castle. West Oahu Islander takes a look at all four teams as they begin postseason play.

Waipahu Marauders

Record: 1-6-3 overall in OIA West (0-2-1 versus DII teams)

Wins: Over Aiea 3-1 Dec.16

Ties: Leilehua 1-1 Jan. 6, Nanakuli 1-1 Jan. 13, Radford 1-1 Jan. 16

Losses: To Waialua 2-1 Dec. 12, Kapolei 5-0 Dec. 19, Pearl City 5-0 Dec. 23, Mililani 11-0 Dec. 30, Waianae 3-1 Jan. 9, Campbell 2-0 Jan. 23

Marauders’ Outlook: Will a season full of close encounters spur the team onto a riveting postseason run in DII? Certainly Waipahu will enter the White playoffs as experienced as any, having just finished a season of playing the West’s elite DI teams (Kapolei, Mililani, Pearl City, etc.) in addition to its fellow DII counterparts. All told, Waipahu played six games decided by two goals or less. Solid defensive play has fueled the team lately, as it limited Waianae, Nanakuli and Radford to one goal each.

Campbell Sabers

Record: 3-2-4 overall in OIA West

Wins: Over Nanakuli 7-1 Dec. 12, Aiea 9-0 Dec. 23, Waipahu 2-0 Jan. 23

Ties: Kapolei 0-0 Dec. 30, Leilehua 1-1 Jan. 13, Waianae 1-1 Jan. 16, Radford 1-1 Jan. 20

Losses: To Pearl City 3-0 Jan. 6, Mililani 1-0 Jan. 9

Sabers’ Outlook: If any team looks like the sleeper of this week’s OIA field, it just may be the Sabers, who were only a few plays away from taking down both Kapolei and Mililani, which earned the West’s top two seeds. The Sabers are one of the league’s top defensive teams, led by junior Boogie Mattos, having given up one goal or less in eight of their first nine West games. Offensively, Campbell will hope for more scoring, having tallied just five goals over its last seven games.

Kapolei Hurricanes

Record: 8-0-2 in OIA West second place

Wins: Over Waialua 6-1 Dec. 16, Waipahu 5-0 Dec. 19, Mililani 1-0 Jan. 6, Aiea 13-0 Jan. 9, Waianae 8-1 Jan. 13, Pearl City 2-0 Jan. 16, Leilehua 3-1 Jan. 20, Nanakuli 8-0 Jan. 23

Ties: With Radford 0-0 Dec. 12, Campbell 0-0 Dec. 30

Losses: None Hurricanes’ Outlook: Offensive issues plagued the Hurricanes in preseason and in their early games, but those days seem long ago now, as they went on to tally 43 goals in all in the season, second only to Mililani’s 46 among DI OIA teams. Shandon Hopeau has led the way offensively, tallying 18 goals in seven appearances, ranking him second overall in the OIA behind Naia Graham (20) of DII Kailua. Hurricane playmaker C.J. Harvey also has come on in the scoring department of late, making five of his eight goals in his last four games. On the defensive side, starting goalkeeper Makana Breault posted six shutouts during the season and has yet to yield more than a single goal in a game in 2015.

Pearl City Chargers

Record: 8-2 Wins: Over Radford 2-1 Dec. 16, Leilehua 4-0 Dec. 19, Waipahu 5-0 Dec. 23, Nanakuli 3-0 Dec. 30, Campbell 3-0 Jan. 6, Waialua 3-0 Jan. 9, Aiea 7-0 Jan. 13, Waianae 7-2 Jan. 23

Ties: None Losses: to Kapolei 2-0 Jan. 16, Mililani 3-2 Jan. 20

Chargers’ Outlook: After a 7-0 start, heart-breaking losses to Kapolei and Mililani in succession undermined the Chargers’ momentum to a degree, but they rebounded big with perhaps its best effort of the slate in a 7-2 win over Waianae in their West finale Jan. 24.

Defense remains this team’s forte. The Chargers, who posted shutouts in six of their eight wins, have a 1-2 record when giving up two goals or more. Offensively, Luke Wyman (team-leading eight goals), Devin Ajimine (six) and Daniel Woo (six) are among the scoring leaders.

As the No. 3 seed out of the West, the team was to meet No. 6 East seed Castle in a first-round game Monday.

jackster.1969@yahoo.com