It’s never too early for a state championship preview.
Hawaii’s traditional boys soccer powers will converge on Kapolei for the Oahu Interscholastic Soccer Showcase over the next three days.
State champion Mililani leads the field, but won’t get to ease into the tournament. The Trojans open with a 7 p.m. match against Punahou on Thursday. The Trojans beat the Buffanblu 1-0 in last year’s state semifinals.
Of the six goals scored by the Trojans in their run to the title last year, all but one of the scorers graduated. Tony Silva, show scored in Mililani’s state opener last year, returns but MJ Matas, Jeron Cunningham and Jared Choquette all graduated.
There will be no rematch of last year’s state championship match as Mililani and Kalani do not face each other in the tournament, but the other semifinal will have a rematch when Kalani and Iolani hook up at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Division II champion Mid-Pacific is also in the field. The two leagues were tied going into the final match last season and Iolani shut out Kapolei 2-0 to earn a 5-4 edge for the private schools.
The girls will have a preseason tournament of their own, with eight OIA teams mixing it up in games at Leilehua and Castle.
The best matches on the first day of the 32nd annual Castle-Leilehua Girls Soccer tournament figures to be Mililani and Moanalua at 5 p.m. at Leilehua on Thursday and Pearl City and Kaiser playing at 5 p.m. at Castle. All four of those teams made the state tournament last year.
The Chargers beat Kaiser 6-4 to take fifth place in the OIA last year.
Leilehua, Roosevelt, Castle and Waialua are also in the tournament. Here is the combined schedule for the week:
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Girls: Mililani vs. Moanalua at Leilehua, 5 p.m.
Girls: Pearl City vs. Kaiser at Castle, 5 p.m.
Boys: Punahou vs Mililani at Kapolei, 7 p.m.
Girls: Roosevelt at Leilehua, 7 p.m.
Girls: Waialua at Castle, 7 p.m.
Friday, December 4, 2015
Boys: Iolani vs Kapolei, 6 p.m.
Boys: Mid-Pacific vs Kalani, 8 p.m.
Girls: Leilehua or Roosevelt vs. Mililani or Moanalua at Leilehua, 7 p.m.
Girls: Castle or Waialua vs. Pearl City or Kaiser at Castle, 7 p.m.
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Boys: Punahou vs Kapolei, 9 a.m.
Boys: Mililani vs Iolani, 11 a.m.
Boys: Kalani vs Punahou, 1 p.m.
Boys: Mid-Pac vs Mililani, 3 p.m.
Boys: Iolani vs Kalani, 5 p.m.
Boys: Kapolei vs Mid-Pac, 7 p.m.
Girls: Castle-Leilehua championship at Castle, 7
A few teams warmed up last week on at the Ka Makani Soccer Classic on the Big Island, with Punahou’s girls getting goals from Shay Nakahira, True Dydasco and Kaylin Fukiji to beat Hawaii Prep 3-1 for the title.
The Buffanblu beat Hilo 7-0 and Kapaa 3-0 to reach the final. Emma Taylor of Ka Makani was the only player to score against Punahou in the tournament.
Hawaii Prep took the boys title in its own tournament when Austin Schneider scored one minute into overtime to beat Kealakehe 2-1. Ka Makani was impressive before the final, beating Seabury Hall 6-0 and state runner up Kalani 5-0.
State Division II champion Mid-Pacific went 1-1 in the tournament, beating Honokaa 5-2 but losing 3-2 to Kealakehe.
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