I had not even unpacked yet from my Honolulu trip when I got word on Facebook that the Lahainaluna boys soccer team had a match down at Kahului Community Center. I think it was a soccer tournament hosted by Baldwin. Not wanting to pass up the opportunity to get shots of the boys soccer team under the bright sun, I packed up my Nikon D90, my Sigma 50-500mm lens and a monopod, told my wife I was going to Costco and headed down to the field!
With soccer and basketball often scheduling their games at the same time and, obviously, at two different places, opportunities to shoot soccer this year will be rare. So whenever something like this comes up, I need to jump on it and take as much pictures as I can of each of the players.
It is still preseason and there were plenty of new faces. Last year was a breakthrough year for the soccer program as they were on the cusp of winning their first ever MIL championship. Unfortunately, a late season collapse saw their MIL championship and even their state tournament hopes dashed. There were a lot of seniors on that team, but this year, they seem to have a deeper talented team. Time will tell whether they can surpass their successes of last year.
One familiar returnee was Reece Sinenci. He, of course, is the reason I shoot soccer because of his parents, Fred and Roxanne. He, too, was fresh off the football season that ended in Waipahu just two days earlier. The coach wanted him to play and he was there.
I was not sure for the longest time who the Lunas were playing. Roxanne had said it was Kamehameha. But there were too many blonds and the fans kept cheering for the Trojans. At some point, I just assumed they were playing St. Anthony.
St. Anthony also made it to states last year from Division II. They scored the first goal and were up 1-0 at the half.
After the half, it was all Lahainaluna. The main star was Rhys Lendio. If I recall correctly, he scored 3 goals. He thoroughly frustrated the St. Anthony goalie, who let loose with several, not-so-subtle F-bombs. And I thought St. Anthony had a code of conduct and I think the chuch would frown upon the use of F-bombs. Just sayin'!
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