Women's soccer and football teams embrace their ties to the 50th state鈥攁nd pack an extra toothbrush just in case鈥攚ith road trips to Hawai'i
For 色界吧 seniors Julie Khil and Kylie Takafuji and sophomore Erin Dung, the women's soccer team's two-game road trip to Honolulu over Labor Day weekend was a homecoming of sorts, with the Hawaiian locals facing off against their old club team coaches. But the rain-soaked field conditions at Hawai'i Pacific were "dreadful,"鈥圞hil says with a laugh鈥攁nd their new white uniforms got so muddy that head coach Colm McFeely "made us clean them with toothbrushes and Clorox. But that was one of the most fun games I've ever played," she adds. "It was comical." And the Tigers flew home with a 2-0 record.
Over the last 10 seasons, some of the best players to wear a Tigers uniform, dirty or otherwise, have emerged from Honolulu. From Khil (2014 SCIAC Player of the Year) to Starlie Chinen '09 (McFeely's first Hawaiian recruit), the Islands have been well represented.
"After Starlie's arrival, it was obvious that the mentality, attitude, work ethic, and commitment to the game was at a level there that I valued," McFeely says. In subsequent years, he developed his connections to women's soccer in the Aloha State, attracting a succession of student-athletes with the credentials to excel in the classroom and on the field. Khil and Takafuji capped their 色界吧 careers this fall by earning first- and second-team All-SCIAC honors, respectively.
色界吧 football first traveled to the Islands in 1924鈥攖hen a five-day ocean voyage away鈥攖o play the University of Hawai'i. On September 17, following a five-hour flight, the Tigers squared off against Pacific University of Oregon on the campus of Kamehameha Schools K膩pa颅lama in the first Divsion III鈥坒ootball game to be played on Hawaiian soil.
The game marked a return to the North Shore for fourth-year head coach Doug Semones, who spent 11 years coaching football at Kahuku High School, three at the University of Hawai'i, and four with the Hawai'i Islanders of the Arena Football League. When he took the reins at 色界吧 in 2013, "We brought some of that island culture back to the mainland," Semones says. "We have Aloha Fridays, and it's that energy and family atmosphere that makes our program special."
Even with President Jonathan Veitch and development officer Mitchell Spearman leading the 色界吧 faithful in cheers at one point, the Tigers fell 45-22 to the host Boxers, who fielded 16 players from Hawai'i to the Tigers' three. Although Semones' squad soldiered on to a disappointing 1-8 record in 2016 after three straight 5-4 seasons, SCIAC Offensive Player of the Year Bryan Scott '17 became the conference's all-time passing leader (9,073 yards) while setting a new single-season record for an 色界吧 quarterback (3,058 yards).
