Thursday, February 24, 2011

Bears advance to state soccer quarterfinals


By Fred Guzman

ESPN550.com

 

All three of the MIL qualifiers for the state high school boys soccer tournaments will be in action today.

 

That was assured when Baldwin earned a berth in the quarterfinal round of the Division-I tourney with a dramatic 1-0 win over Aiea yesterday at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.

 

The Bears dominated the match in terms of time of possession and shots on goal, but were unable to capitalize on those advantages for most of the match.  But freshman midfielder Jaren Otani ran down a pass and hammered a six-yard shot into the back of the net with eight minutes left in the first-round match.

 

Baldwin then had to survive a huge scare in the waning minutes as senior goalkeeper Leo Fayt made back-to-back saves on a breakaway situation to save the victory and enable Baldwin secure a berth against second-seeded Kapolei.  The match is scheduled for a 5 p.m. kickoff at the Main Stadium at Waipio.

 

King Kekaulike and St. Anthony were seeded fourth in their respective divisions and drew first-round byes.

 

Kekaulike will play at D-I match at 1 p.m. at the stadium against Kaiser, which advanced with a 4-3 overtime win over Waiakea.

 

In other D-I results, Punahou needed overtime for a 2-1 comeback win over Roosevelt and Mililani scored both of its goals in the final eight minutes for a 2-0 win over Moanalua.  Punahou next faces No. 3 Hilo and Mililani meets top-seeded Kamehameha-Oahu.

 

The eight-team D-II tournament kicks off today. St. Anthony will open its bid against Mid-Pacific at 3 o'clock.  In other match-ups:  No. 1 Honokaa faces Radford, No. 2 Kapaa meets Konawaena and No. 3 Waipahu tangles with Hawaii Prep.

 

YOUTH SOCCER:  The Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex also was the site for the past weekend's President's Day Cup youth tournament, with a team from the Valley Isle bringing home a championship.

 

The Maui United Soccer Club 1999 Red took top honors in the under-12 boys division with a 2-0 victory over Rush 99 Nike in the final to finish the tournament with a 6-0 record, outscoring their opponents 17-2 en route to their second straight PDC title.

 

United's goals came in the second minute by Angelo Deloso-Flacco and in the 47th by Noa Harrisson.

 

Two other Maui United boys teams won their respective pools and reached the semis only to be eliminated by eventual champions. 

 

The MUSC 99 White was defeated by Rush 99 Nike, 2-0, in the under-12 division, finishing with a 4-1 mark.  MUSC 2002 lost 3-1 to the Bulls Kaula. 

 

Two other Valley Isle teams reached the semis. 

 

Pono 99, competing in the under-11 girls division, was ousted following a 1-0 loss to Blitz Orange and the under-10 Wailuku Bruiser boys were beaten 3-2 by Bulls 2001

 

MIL SOFTBALL:  Members of the Lahainaluna softball team feel they let one get away last year, when arch-rival Baldwin staged a late rally in the regular-season finale to capture its seventh straight MIL title.

 

The Lunas partly avenged the setback in impressive fashion yesterday with a season-opening 11-4 spanking of the Bears. 

 

Hope Morikawa went the distance for the pitching victory and the Lunas erupted for six runs in the sixth inning to secure the win.  Brenna Nakamura had a two-run triple for the Lunas.

 

Kekaulike opened its campaign with a 7-2 road win over Maui High as Karlee-Rose Perry allowed four hits and struck out eight for Na Alii.

 

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Maui fans pack War Memorial for UH volleyball win

By Fred Guzman

 

Take a bow, Maui fans.  You were the real winners on Saturday night.  As a result of your enthusiastic support, don't be at all surpised if the Valley Isle ends up hosting additional University of Hawaii athletic events in the future.

 

A loud, ti leaf-waving overflow crowd of 2,047 fans packed War Memorial Gym, providing inspiration for the Hawaii men in an error-filled but exciting 26-24, 18-25, 25-19, 25-20 non-conference volleyball victory over California Baptist.

 

Adding to the great atmosphere was the presence of a travel party that included cheerleaders, promotions and announcers that are part of matches at the Stan Sheriff Center, with the Maui High band capable filling in for their UH counterparts.

 

Hawaii coach Charlie Wade described the environment as "great," and he wasn't merely being polite.  The sentiment was shared and expressed by players on both teams.

 

Possibly because of the reduced space behind one of the end lines, the teams struggled with their serves.  There were a total of 41 service errots, including 23 by Hawaii.

 

Still, UH managed to come up with the big plays when they most mattered to sweep a the series against the defending NAIA national champs.  Hawaii won Friday's match at The Stanley in three games.

 

Leading UH were Jonas Umlauft with 20 kills, Joshua Walker with 17 and defensive specialist  Nick Castello came up with nine digs.

 

UH SOFTBALL: Eighth-ranked Hawaii opened the softball season in impressive fashion, winning all five games in the Paradise Classic. 

 

The Rainbow Wahine closed out the tournament on Saturday with a 5-1 win over Southern Utah thanks to a grandslam by Melissa Gonzalez and completed the title run with an 8-0 mercy-rule victory over UC Davis as Stephanie Ricketts posted her third win of the event. 

 

UH, most noted for its power-hitting prowess after slugging a national-record 158 homers last season, posted a team ERA of 0.44 while holding its five opponents to a .143 batting average.  Hawaii outscored its opponents 32-3.

 

The Wahine close their season-opening homestand today against Texas State at 5 p.m. before traveling to Las Vegas to take part in the high-profile Desert Classic that starts on Friday followed by another major tournament in Southern California.

 

UH HOOPS: The UH men return to action tonight, hosting Nevada.  Following an 0-5 start in the conference, Hawaii has won four of its last six WAC games and are seventh in the league.  The top eight teams qualify for the WAC tournament.

 

WAHINE HOOPS:  Following a pair of encouraging home wins, Hawaii shot a dismal 23.3 percent from the field and suffered its most lopsided loss of the WAC season when it was beaten 69-42 at Nevada.  The loss dropped UH to 8-16 overall and 2-9 in the WAC. UH dropped into a tie with Boise State for eighth place with five regular-season games remaining. The last-place school among nine WAC teams is left home from the WAC tournament in Las Vegas next month.  The Wahine, who has lost 18 straight away games, remains on the road for games at NMS on Tuesday and at league-leading LaTech on Thursday.

 

UH BASEBALL: Hawaii opens its season on Friday with the first of a four-game series against Oregon, ranked No. 9 in the Collegiate Baseball preseason Top 40 poll. The Rainbows are No. 38.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Plan in works for all-UH TV sports channel

By Fred Guzman

 

You may have heard the old saying about when one door closes, another opens.  Such could be the case regarding televised sports at the University of Hawaii.

 

The status of its lucrative pay-per-view package is in jeopardy as Hawaii transitions out of the Western Athletic Conference and into the Mountain West for football and the Big West for most other sports.

 

UH athletic administrators are working on a plan that could complement or replace its current TV arrangements.

 

The Star-Advertiser is reporting that Oceanic Time Warner Cable is moving toward the creation of all-University of Hawaii channel on its statewide system that could be operational as soon as this fall.

 

Oceanic's current contract with UH runs through 2014 and guarantees UH a minimum of $2.3 million per year plus a share of revenues past certain thresholds. The contract calls for UH to receive $500,000 from KFVE and the balance from Oceanic.

 

But the future role — if any — of KFVE, which has been part of UH sports for nearly 30 years, is said to be undecided, according to the Star-Bulletin.   KFVE has partnered with Oceanic on pay-per-view since 2002.  That arrangement is under negotiation.

 

While things would likely be little changed in the Big West, both UH and Oceanic are awaiting word from the Mountain West whether pay-per-view, as we currently know it, will continue.