King Kekaulike’s Bailey Hofmann currently is in Munich hoping to impress and sign a professional soccer contract.
Hofmann, a sophomore midfielder, has already turned heads throughout the state with his skills and clutch play this prep season, and was named the Honolulu Star-Advertiser boys soccer Player of the Year as voted on by a panel of coaches.
“That’s a dream of mine, just being one of the best out of Hawaii,” said Hofmann by phone from Munich, where he is training with the Munich Fussball Academy.
Hofmann finished with six goals and 12 assists as King Kekaulike (10-1-2) captured its first state title. He is one of five players from the neighbor islands named to the Stellar Eleven.
“He brought a new style that we haven’t seen in a lot of our players over the past years,” said King Kekaulike co-coach Tye Perdido. “We’ve had guys in the past who like to dribble and like to do stuff with it, but weren’t as successful as Bailey is in being able to beat guys in a one-on-one aspect.”
Hoffman made his mark this season from virtually the same spot in the final two games of the Niu Health Urgent Care/HHSAA Division I Boys Soccer Championships.
In a semifinal against Kalani, Hofmann lined up for a free kick from 20 yards out on the left side in overtime. His kick traveled to the perfect spot for teammate Rex Riecke to head it in for the golden goal in a 1-0 victory.
“I actually was looking for Angus Daniels at the back post, but I just saw Rex swoop in and win that header,” Hofmann said. “It was part luck, but also kind of my skill, I guess.”
In the final against Hilo, Hofmann, from nearly the same spot, hit an arching free kick that bent just over the Vikings goalkeeper and into the net for a 2-0 advantage in the 39th minute. Na Alii went on to win 3-1.
“In the final, I just got mad at one of their defenders. He just started pushing me for no reason (which led to the foul),” Hofmann said. “Their coaches were even saying how I was being like disrespectful and I just kind of shushed them with the goal.”
Hofmann, 16, left Maui for Munich a week after the soccer season and is fulfilling his King Kekaulike academic requirements there. He has a German passport because his father was born there.
He said playing professional soccer has “been a dream of mine for a long time.”
Hofmann said he is training at the academy and will soon travel throughout Germany by himself in hopes of getting tryouts and signing a pro contract.
“If nothing goes to plan here, then I’ll come back and show everybody what I’ve learned here in Germany,” Hofmann said.
The first-team forwards are junior Leha Harman of state runner-up Hilo, Mililani senior Max Scott and Aiea junior Kelly Takara.
Joining Hofmann as midfielders are Kamehameha-Hawaii junior Elijah Dinkel, Kaiser senior Ian Ngonethong and King Kekaulike junior Owen Riecke.
“Owen was the backbone of our team throughout the entire season,” Perdido said. “We were struggling with our understanding and controlling the middle of the field and we had to ask Owen to step into the middle of the field until we coached up some of the younger guys and some who didn’t know the system too well.”
Perdido added that once everyone was up to speed, Riecke returned to his natural position of winger for the state tournament, where he scored two goals. He finished the season with nine goals and four assists.
Dinkel is the only D-II player to make the first or second All-State teams. He scored 23 goals this season to help the Warriors claim the state title.
The defenders are Hilo senior Ko‘ae Pe‘a, Punahou senior La‘akeaikamalu Salvani and Mililani senior Seth Uson.
Kaiser senior Lucca Tommasino is the goalkeeper.
Perdido and Aaron Hamamura, in their first year as co-coaches at King Kekaulike, were named the Coaches of the Year.
“We have guys from two years graduated from college, all the way to being coaching for 20 years,” Perdido said. “We have a good grasp of the entire game and were able to work together and get along.”
Perdido, a standout at Gonzaga, said he and some of the other coaches practice with the team so they can “not only tell them what we want them to do, but show them as well.”
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STELLAR ELEVEN
Forwards
Leha Harman, Hilo, Jr.
Max Scott, Mililani, Sr.
Kelly Takara, Aiea, Jr.
Midfielders
Player of the Year — Bailey Hofmann, King Kekaulike, So.
Elijah Dinkel, KS-Hawaii, Jr.
Ian Ngonethong, Kaiser, Sr.
Owen Riecke, King Kekaulike, Jr.
Defenders
Ko‘ae Pe‘a, Hilo, Sr.
La‘akea Salvani, Punahou, Sr.
Seth Uson, Mililani, Sr.
Goalkeeper
Lucca Tommasino, Kaiser, Sr.
SECOND ELEVEN
Forwards
Declan Horio, Punahou, Jr.
Maka Monaghan, Kalani, Sr.
Will Simpson, Mililani, Sr.
Midfielders
Noah Fujikane, Mililani, Sr.
Elijah Hines, Kapolei, Sr.
Zachary Jordan Gaoiran, ‘Iolani, Sr.
Ethan Senter, Kalani, Jr.
Defenders
Angus Daniels, King Kekaulike, Jr.
Kai Thomas, King Kekaulike, Sr.
Kilinahe Waring, Kamehameha, Sr.
Goalkeeper
Cade Matsumoto, Punahou, Sr
HONORABLE MENTION
Aiea: Reicin Crisostomo, Konner Jacang
Baldwin: Kekoa Kiesling
Castle: Raiden Takasato
Hawaii Prep: Mason Hunt, Aidan Santos
Hilo: Tysen Kaniaupio, Kani Tolentino-Perry
‘Iolani: Jaxson Kahawai, Isaak Tanaka
Island School: Carlos Lang
Kailua: Allan Gabriel “Kana” Donis-Sablan, Brody Person
Kaiser: Sean Caires, Leo Davies, Seamas Mercado
Kalani: Jenson Fuse, Shane Fuse, Ten Kurokawa, Jase Oshiro, Yamato Okumura, Lucas Wright
Kamehameha: Ethan Apo, Royal Kekuewa, Kalai Pagente, Elijah Soon, Logan Zaa
KS-Hawaii: Jacob Aiona, Taylor “Kanai” Eckart
KS-Maui: Kayden Medeiros
Kapolei: Logan Aurio, Noah Anderson, Ciano Pham
Kealakehe: Matthew Enriquez
Le Jardin: Ben Schuetz
Makua Lani: Kaelele Fernandez
Mililani: Kai Martin, Parker Patterson
Moanalua: Shun Saito
Pac-Five: Kevin Au
Pearl City: Raine Fujimura, Chase Kaetsu
Punahou: Keaton Hicks, Austin
Kaneko, Justin Nishimoto, Cade Quinto
Radford: Winston Abreu
All-State Boys Soccer by Honolulu Star-Advertiser
