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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, December 19, 2008

Goo's goals lift 'Iolani over Kamehameha, 2-1

Photo gallery: Iolani - Kamehameha boys soccer

By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Kamehameha's Kainoa Kahui, left, and 'Iolani's Brock Granger go airborne as they battle for the ball.

REBECCA BREYER | The Honolulu Advertiser

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'Iolani boys soccer coach Chris Lee likes to mention Nick Goo's name and the phrase "100 percent" when describing his play on the soccer field.

It was easy to see why yesterday as Goo, a junior forward, gave maximum hustle and scored both goals in a 2-1 victory over visiting Kamehameha in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu boys soccer match.

Goo scored the go-ahead goal in the 56th minute after making a hustling save of a ball headed toward the right sideline about 18 yards from the goal.

Goo kept the ball in with his heel and his momentum carried him a few yards beyond the sideline. He hustled back into play quickly to give his team possession.

"That's the thing about Nick," Lee said. "He's always going to give you 100 percent and leave everything he's got on the field."

The Raiders' Keith Lum wound up with the ball after the save, sent it into the penalty box and it knocked around off a few players before Goo scored from in close.

"I was in the right place at the right time," Goo said. "My teammates, I couldn't have done it without them. They make great plays, all of them."

'Iolani improved to 2-0, while Kamehameha dropped to 2-1.

"It was a good win for us and it should help us throughout the season," Goo said.

ILH Division I teams play a home-and-home series with one another this season.

"Kamehameha is always going to be near the top of the standings," Lee said. "They're always battling for first place. To get a victory here at home, that means a lot for us. When we go there it's going to be tough."

Goo put the Raiders ahead with a goal in the 17th minute off a long pass from Marcus Joy.

Goo received the pass on a big hop from Joy, who was about 60 yards from goal, knocked the ball down to the right of the on-charging goal keeper and knocked it in.

"It was a nice ball from my teammate Marcus and I had the easy part," Goo said.

Added Lee: "Marcus put a nice ball through and the thing with Nick even if he's not having a good day, he'll hustle and give you 100 percent and leave it all on the field. Today, he made some big plays for us scoring the two goals and we're looking for him to continue to do that throughout the season."

Kamehameha tied it 1-1 on Ryan Ho's goal in the 26th minute. Ho stole the ball near midfield and his shot from 19 yards on the right side took a high hop over the sprawling 'Iolani goal keeper and into the goal.

"We're happy our boys stayed in the game, fought back, didn't let down after 'Iolani took the lead," said Kamehameha coach Andrew Ah New. "We showed some character, and that was a great shot."

Ah New said his team was "pretty shaky for the first 18 minutes of the game, couldn't get their passes together."

He added the Warriors knew how dangerous Goo was, but still couldn't slow him down.

"Nick Goo is one of the top two scorers on the 'Iolani team and we know that, and we still couldn't stop him from scoring. That's how good he is," Ah New said.

'Iolani finished with five shots on goal and Kamehameha had four.

The Warriors had both their second-half shots on goal in the final minutes and saw a header glance off the crossbar in the 88th minute.

CORRECTION

'Iolani's Krystal Pascua scored in a 4-1 victory over Sacred Hearts in an ILH girls match Wednesday. Another player was credited in yesterday's editions.

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.