Int Red Soccer Wins 3-0 Over MPI
by Al Linsky
This is the first time I saw the Intermediate Red team. I had seen the Black team and was very impressed. I knew that the Black team beat the Red team only 1-0, so I figured the Red team had a lot going for it too. And, they do.
The first half was dominated by the Raiders in field position, but not overly dominant as the Owls were able to penetrate on a few occasions.
There was no scoring until about 10 minutes, when Tylar Peltier got off a strong shot from the center about 25 yards out. The goalie got a hand on it but couldn't stop it. 1-0. And, that's how the half would end.
A few minutes into the second half saw Tristan Madios-Simon make a nice centering pass to Tylar who flicked it over the goalie's head. Very pretty goal! 2-0.
At about 15 minutes of the second half, Justin Kim came in hard on the right side only to be fouled close in. He put the resulting penalty kick in the lower left corner to make it 3-0, which is how it ended.
To see more photos, please visit iolani-events.org.
It's Black Over Red, 36-31
by Al Linsky
This was a great game!
Having seen both these teams once before, I was expecting the Black team to dominate this game. But, it's easy to be misled as the competition can make a team look stronger or weaker than it really is.
The Black team beat up on MPI, a pretty good team, while the Red team took it on the chin from Punahou Blue. But, the more that I think about it, the Punahou Blue team was quite a bit better than the MPI team.
I just loved the way the Red team came out onto the floor. You could see it in their eyes, especially floor leader, Trey Muraoka. The Blacks had their own quiet confidence. This was going to be a great game!
The Black team jumped out to a small lead, but the Reds battled back to tie it at 7-7 with 4:38 left in the first quarter. The Reds then cooled off while the Blacks made a 6-0 run to end the quarter at 13-7.
The second quarter saw the momentum switch back to the Reds as they closed the gap to 19-18 at the half.
At 6:24 of the third period, the Reds took their first lead at 21-19. The Blacks dug down, though, and made sure it was shortlived as they recaptured the lead at 26-23 at the end of the third.
The fourth quarter saw the blacks expand their lead to 32-25, then 36-27 with 2:42 left. The Reds made one last attempt at catching up employing a scrappy full court defense which got them to 36-31 as time ran out.
It was a great battle as most Black vs. Red games tend to be.
To see more photos, please visit iolani-events.org.
