Boys’ 3-4 Gold Division: Kaiser makes history
Paul Hillson used a golf cart to get around the Jack Hammett Sports Complex on Sunday afternoon, and he didn’t really have much of a voice.
It was a long week for Hillson, the Daily Pilot Cup coordinator for Kaiser Elementary. The Knights had 20 teams entered into the tournament and 311 total kids competing, he said.
As for his voice, he lost it Tuesday on the very first day of the tournament.
“The first chant, we did the ‘I Believe!’ the first day,” Hillson said. “I got in there, did it, too loud and my voice just went. And I’ve been doing it every day since.”
Hillson didn’t have to do too much talking after Kaiser’s third- and fourth-grade boys’ Gold Division team was done. The Knights’ play on Sunday spoke for itself.
When it was all said and done, they had made history. Harry Kelyan scored the game-winning goal with three minutes remaining as Kaiser beat Mariners Christian, 4-3, to claim its first boys’ title in any division at the Daily Pilot Cup.
In the tournament’s 17th year, Kaiser’s boys finally find themselves on top. They were dominant, outscoring opponents 23- 4, including a 7-0 win over Andersen in the semifinals.
“It feels really good,” said Tanner Muir, who anchored the Kaiser defense along with Gavin and Josh Dodman, Tomas Becerine and Olivier Renard, as well as goalie Luke Reeve. “We’re the first boys’ team in history to win it for Kaiser.”
Muir, a fourth-grader like all of the other boys on the Kaiser roster, actually gave the Knights a spark on offense when he scored just 25 seconds into the game. Jake Hillson had the assist.
“My teammate, Harry, he missed it in the air,” Muir said. “It was going to hit his shoulder, but it was on the ground, so I just tapped it in. It felt really good, because it’s the finals. It’s intense.”
The Mariners Christian Lions evened the score in the 18th minute. After goalie Jack Cross cleared the ball out of danger, it found the foot of Owen Tift, who snuck it past the keeper on the other end.
Tift had scored the winning penalty kick goal as Mariners Christian beat Whittier in a shootout in the semifinals earlier Sunday. Garrett DeLorme had scored late in regulation time to create a 1-1 tie, forcing the shootout.
In the title match, the teams were also tied 1-1 at halftime. Mariners Christian defender Max Hall made a couple of nice plays on the goal line, the second one right before halftime, to preserve the tie.
But there were a flurry of goals to open the second half. First Kaiser’s James Evans found the back of the net three minutes into the half. But Mariners Christian answered when Antonio Ganem scored, assisted by Andrew Buda, just two minutes later.
But Kaiser answered when Jon “Jon Jon” Richardson scored from well outside the box, giving his team a 3-2 lead. It wouldn’t last long.
Midway through the half Kaiser was called for a handball in the box, off a Mariners Christian corner kick. DeLorme scored on the penalty kick, and Mariners Christian Coach Ken Yonkers started getting ready for penalty kicks. He had an index card where he started writing names of kids to take the shots.
It wouldn’t come to that again, though. Not after Kelyan’s winning goal.
“It was a lucky shot,” Kelyan said of the low shot, which was nearly grabbed by the goalie but snuck past into the back of the net. “I thought it was a foul because the guy was holding my shirt. I didn’t see the goal.”
He certainly saw his teammates react, though. It held up, and Kaiser made history. Members of the girls’ fifth- and sixth-grade Gold Division team, which also captured the title Sunday, were there to celebrate with the fourth-grade boys at the final whistle.
“My daughter [Hannah] was on the gold team that won,” Paul Hillson said. “I had both my kids winning the Pilot Cup for the first time. It’s a good feeling, being a dad and a coach.”
Reeve played the duration in goal and made four saves for Kaiser, which also got contributions from Benson Avila and Deven Regan.
Cross and Jimmy Lavin shared the goalkeeping duties for Mariners Christian, and Ryan Yonkers shined as a center back. Ethan Jones, Parker Sheward, Christian Nunez, Christian Creamer, Callen Bray, Dylan Shaw, Noah Anderson and Garrett Beem also contributed for the Lions.
“This [Kaiser] team won their semi 7-0,” Ken Yonkers said. “They were the heavy favorites. They have no weak spots, and I’m so proud of my boys.”
Yonkers said he was also proud of the fact that everyone on his 17-player roster saw action in the title match.
“All the kids played their heart out,” he said. “We had a few kids that don’t even play soccer that were out there, and it didn’t hurt us too bad. Everybody contributed to a great tournament.”
