One lament about soccer is that there is no scoring, but the OIA East boys have the antidote for that kind of thinking.
The conference has been a scorefest this year, led by Kailua’s Naia Graham. The East has four of Oahu’s top five scorers and is celebrating an average of 5.8 times per game.
The other two boys leagues on Oahu, the OIA West (4.3 goals per match) and the ILH (4.1) are defensive struggles by comparison.
But the top dog in the East is probably there because it understands how to keep the ball out of the net. The Falcons have only given up two goals in eight games this year, nobody else have given up fewer than eight (Kahuku, Moanalua and Kaiser).
The numbers are skewed a little bit on the other end, where Farrington has given up 64 goals in nine games and Kaimuki has yielded 62 in eight games.
Kaimuki and McKinley will be battling for a probably playoff spot on Tuesday in a battle of 0-8 teams. Waipahu (1-5-3) and Nanakuli (1-6-1) are battling for the White’s last playoff spot. The Marauders have only Campbell left on the schedule while the Golden Hawks still have Kapolei and Waialua.
The Red East is down to Roosevelt (3-5) and Castle (3-5). They each play one game before meeting each other on Saturday with the berth on the line.
The Red West is pretty much locked in with Aiea (1-7) ending its season early. Na Alii’s only chance at playing on is beating Waianae and Radford while hoping Leilehua loses to Kapolei and Mililani.
The ILH doesn’t have a playoff but Mid-Pacific can clinch the lone Division II state berth with one more win or tie and a win or tie by Pac-Five. Each school has four matches remaining but they don’t play each other.
Iolani holds a slim lead in ILH division I with 18 points, but Kamehameha and Punahou are right behind them with 16 points and they have played one more game than the Raiders. The league gets only two state berths, and the Warriors and Buffanblu meet on Saturday.
Boys top scorers (All teams have played eight games)
Naia Graham, Kailua, 19
Shandon Hpoeau, Kapolei, 15
Tyler Morton, Moanalua, 14
Jhonah Felipe, Kalaheo, 12
Takahiro Kosins, Kalani, 11
Guhn Park, Roosevelt, 10
Kalahikiola Judd, Mililani, 10
Stanton Spencer, Waianae, 10
Erik Tabiolo, Moanalua, 9
Aaron Russ, Radford, 8
Keola Norton, Kamehameha, 7
Zachary Trevorrow, Pac-Five, 7
Garrison Lee, Kapolei, 6
Daniel Woo, Pearl City, 6
Colin Kubota, Kailua, 6
Goals per game by conference:
ILH: 4.1
OIA East: 5.8
OIA West: 4.3
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