If you are a soccer fan or even any kind of sports fan in Hawaii, Monday’s story that we have for you is utterly incredible.
Hawaii Kai’s Kaile Halvorsen, playing left halfback, and her Santa Clara University teammates topped Florida State 2-1 on penalty kicks after 90 minutes of regulation and 20 more of overtime for the Division I women’s soccer national championship on Monday in a game televised live on ESPN.
A screenshot of Kaile Halvorsen from the ESPN broadcast of the championship match.
Bedrock Sports Hawaii reached Halvorsen in Cary, N.C., for her thoughts about the accomplishment.
“I’m incredibly proud of my team,” she said. “We persevered through all the challenges this season, including having our season cancelled in the fall to being the last college team to start this season with Santa Clara having the strictest COVID rules. We’ve had to overcome so much and through it all played with so much heart and determination every game and it paid off.”
A tweet from proud brother Kailer Halvorsen that includes video of the winning penalty kick goal by Izzy D’Aquila is below.
NATIONAL CHAMPS BABY ?⚽️
Congrats @kaileee_h … so proud of you, you played incredible. Bringing home the natty to the #808. @billyhull @bedrocksportshi @RobDeMelloKHON @MicheleBud @HawaiiRecruits @KaiserHigh @scoringlive @FelipeOjastro pic.twitter.com/yta1wMOUKS— Kyler Halvorsen (@KylerH808) May 18, 2021
And Kaile Halvorsen, who was the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s high school soccer player of the year in 2018, was a real firebrand in the match. Although not a starter, she was inserted into the game in the first half, played the whole second half and all of the overtime. It appeared that she was scheduled to be Santa Clara’s fifth player to shoot a penalty kick, but the Broncos clinched it when D’Aaulia, their fourth shooter — scored the team’s fourth in a row after the Seminoles had already missed two.
In the video, you see that Halvorsen (jersey No. 11) doesn’t miss her chance to jump onto the championship pile.
Halovrsen had a handful of solid runs, nice passes and big steals in the match and had a solid opportunity to win it in overtime after taking a pass from Kelsey Turnbow.
Also, in the overtimes, Halvorsen was in the middle of her goaltender’s box, doing whatever she could to keep the Seminoles from scoring on two super-close chances.
Below is a video of Halvorsen scoring twice in a 4-0 victory over University of the Pacific earlier this season.
Late in regulation, when Florida State was driving for a golden scoring chance, Halvorsen lifted her hand up in the air, knowing the play was offside. When the ball went in the net, sure enough, the referees signaled the offside.
Kaile Halvorsen, when she played for the Surf soccer club.
Kyler Halvorsen, who made the aforementioned tweet, was a Kaiser High kicker and is now a preferred walk-on with the Washington State football team.
During the ESPN broadcast, one announcer mentioned that Kaile Halvorsen is the babysitter for Aly Wagner, who was in the stands for the match. Wagner scored the only goal in Santa Clara’s 1-0 win over North Carolina for the Broncos’ national championship in 2001.
During that on-TV moment, the announcer also said that Wagner was yelling to Kaile: “You better press. You better press.”
And press she did, helping Santa Clara keep the pressure on late in the second half. That team pressure led to a turnover and to the tying goal by Turnbow.
At times during the championship match, Halvorsen and Seminoles midfielder Kristina Lynch were involved in some competitive pushing and shoving, including one instance where Lynch was given a yellow card.
A screenshot of Halvorsen jumping on to the championship pile.
A 5-foot-6 junior, Halvorsen scored two goals this season, including one game winner. As a sophomore in 2019, she had one assist in 18 games and was a West Coast Conference All-Academic honorable mention.
As a freshman in 2018, she played in all 22 of the Broncos’ games with two goals, including a game winner against No. 2 North Carolina.
As a senior for the Kaiser Cougars in 2018, she scored 31 goals, matching her total in three years of varsity soccer, including her first two with Punahou and her last two with the Cougars.
Here is a story about Halvorsen from the Star-Advertiser in 2018: Kaiser’s Kaile Halvorsen Completes Her Journey To Become Soccer Player of the Year.
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