Radford’s Robert Wilson has gone from passer to scorer lately, and it’s helped the Rams win their first Oahu Interscholastic Association boys soccer title since the tournament’s inception in 1973.
Wilson scored two goals, and Kona Vega and Brandon Euceda each added one as Radford beat Waialua 4-1 in the final of the OIA Division II tournament Saturday at Kapolei.
Radford, Waialua and Roosevelt will represent the league in the HHSAA tournament, which starts March 3.
“This is good for the boys,” said Radford coach Geoff Maeda. “They worked all year for it. From the first day of tryouts, we knew we had something special because we really have soccer players now. Previous years we had two or three soccer players and other athletes who wanted to play soccer.”
Wilson, a junior midfielder, scored his first goal of the season in Radford’s semifinal victory over McKinley.
“We talked about him shooting the ball and scoring because he was our guy who distributed,” Maeda said. “We told him you have to start scoring to take some of the pressure off the other guys.”
Said Wilson: “It’s a different mentality. It’s a lot more rewarding, but I love distributing and having other players score, but when I make the goal I feel good also.”
>> PHOTOS: OIA soccer championships
Radford (7-3-2) went up 1-0 at 7:39 when Wilson controlled the ball straightaway and blasted a 25-yard shot that found the back of the net.
“I saw the ball come, I took a shot to my right, I looked straight up and I just kicked it to the top left,” Wilson said.
The Rams, the West’s No. 1 seed, went up 2-0 when Vega took an errant pass from a defender and slotted a shot past Bulldogs goalkeeper Cyan Mezin at 9:08.
“I hit it wrong,” said Vega, who added he was aiming right, but the shot went left.
Euceda made it 3-0 at 22:38 after taking a through ball from Winston Abreu and firing a shot that was saved by Waialua backup goalkeeper Justus Franks. Euceda got the rebound and had plenty of time to tap the ball into the goal.
Waialua (5-7-1) got on the scoreboard at 38:58 when Sawit Surin controlled a free kick from Zeke Balmoja just in front of the goal and knocked it past Radford keeper Tyler Heald.
“They weren’t defending much when we scored and we took advantage,” said Waialua coach John Rosa. “It broke their moment a little bit.”
The Rams went up 4-1 when Wilson scored at 54:42 off a backheel from Vega.
“I slid in and hoped for the best,” Wilson said.
The Rams finished with 10 shots on goal, while the Bulldogs, the West’s No. 2 seed, had five.
“We tried to stack the midfield to defend their attacking, but it still didn’t work out,” Rosa said.
Earlier at Kapolei, Roosevelt beat McKinley 6-0 in the third-place game.
The first OIA boys soccer tournament was held in 1973, and it split into two divisions in 2008.
