J et Toner has an interesting nickname and a gifted right leg.
Toner’s real first name is John, but he goes by Jet because those are the letters of his initials — John Edward Toner.
The Punahou junior soccer striker did something on Saturday that he tried hard to avoid during football season, when he hit three long, pressure field goals in the postseason.
Hitting the goalposts is not a good thing for a kicker in football, and if you do it too much, you could lose your job. In soccer, hitting a goalpost is just another oh-so-close play.
Toner’s first-half shot from about 20 yards out hit the bottom of the right post and failed to give Punahou the tonic it needed to break a 0-0 draw. The Buffanblu waited until the final three minutes of the contest at Kunuiakea Stadium to score two goals — both by Christopher Brubaker — for a 2-0 win.
“I saw a little opening at the near post to the goalkeeper’s left,” Toner said. “I was thinking it was going in, but it barely missed (and hit the post).”
To get into position for the shot, Toner hustled back to steal the ball from a Kamehameha defender trying to dribble it out of the Warriors end, and then he pushed in for the attack.
“I try to make the most of each opportunity,” he said.
Toner was money in the state Division I semifinal football game against Kahuku, kicking a 35-yard field goal for a 10-10 tie and then adding a 48-yarder to win it 13-10.
In the state final loss to Mililani, Toner set a tournament record with a 53-yarder.
He occasionally looks back on those accomplishments.
“But it’s not like every night I’m dreaming about it,” he said. “I’m learning to expect it.”
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