Hawaii Grown: Santa Clara senior forward Kaile Halvorsen heads Hawaii players in NCAA soccer tournament

SANTA CLARA ATHLETICS

Santa Clara senior forward Kaile Halvorsen, right, chased down a ball in a 3-0 win over San Jose State.in the Broncos’ season opener on Aug. 19. Halvorsen, a Kaiser graduate, played 45 minutes in the match.

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A team hasn’t repeated as NCAA champion in women’s soccer since North Carolina in 2008-09.

Kaiser alumna Kaile Halvorsen hopes to change that.

The Santa Clara senior forward and her Broncos teammates open defense of their national championship hosting Stanford on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The 64-team bracket was released on Monday with seven schools including players who graduated from high school in Hawaii.

Santa Clara is in the tournament for the 12th time in 13 years after winning a share of the West Coast Conference championship with a 2-1 double-overtime victory over Saint Mary’s (Calif.) on Saturday.

Halvorsen, who recorded two shots and one shot on goal in 53 minutes off the bench against the Gaels, scored twice in a 6-0 win over Loyola Marymount on Nov. 3.

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Here’s a look at the players from Hawaii competing in the tournament:

>> Kaile Halvorsen, Kaiser ’18: Halvorsen has started 14 of 18 matches for the Broncos (11-5-2) this season and is fourth on the team with three goals scored. She’s one of five players on the team to appear in every match this season and her 42 shot attempts and 21 shots on goal both rank third on her team.

>> Mia Watanabe, ‘Iolani ’20: The Stanford sophomore forward has appeared in one match and taken one shot for the Cardinal (13-5-1), who finished fourth in the Pac-12.

>> Sunshine Fontes, Pearl City ’19: The UCLA sophomore forward has started five of the 19 matches she has appeared in and has one assist with 25 shots and six shots on goal this season. The Pac-12 champion Bruins (16-0-3) earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament and could host Santa Clara in the Sweet 16. The Bruins open with Big West champion UC Irvine on Saturday.

>> Aislynn Crowder, Mililani ’18: The UCLA sophomore midfielder/forward, who appeared in 14 matches with two starts as a freshman, has not played this season.

>> Kitty Jones-Black, Kamehameha ’19: The Ohio State junior defensive back is one of 17 Buckeyes to play in all 19 matches this season. Jones-Black has five assists this season for Ohio State (9-8-2), which made the tournament for the 11th time in the past 13 seasons and will play at Virginia Tech in the first round on Friday.

>> Audrey Weir, Kealakehe ’21: The Washington State freshman midfielder appeared in one match this season for the Cougars (7-1-3), who finished third in the Pac-12 and will host Montana in the first round on Saturday.

>> Karlee Manding, Waipahu ’18: The South Dakota State senior midfielder has started 16 of 21 matches for the Jackrabbits (17-3-1) and has two goals and two assists this season. South Dakota State won the Summit League title and is making its sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

>> Teani Arakawa, King Kekaulike ’21: The SDSU freshman midfielder/forward is tied for fourth on the team with five goals with one game-winner and also has three assists. The Jackrabbits will play at Pepperdine in the first round on Saturday.

>> Kaycee Manding, Waipahu ’20: The SDSU sophomore midfielder/forward has started three of 21 matches this season and taken seven shots.

>> Mary Shin, ‘Iolani ’20: The USC sophomore defender has not played this season for the Trojans (13-3-2), who will make their eighth consecutive tournament appearance hosting Grand Canyon on Saturday.