College soccer
Arakawa set to face UH
Teani Arakawa sometimes finds herself talking to her South Dakota State University soccer teammates with words they don’t understand.
The Jackrabbits, however, certainly understand how big the 5foot-1 attacking midfield freshman is to the program.
Arakawa, a 2021 graduate of King Kekaulike High School, is back in the islands this week as SDSU plays in the University of Hawaii’s Outrigger Soccer Kickoff at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
Arakawa came off the bench and played 67 minutes during the Jackrabbits’ 6-0 win over Idaho State on Friday night. SDSU (3-0) plays UH on Sunday then takes on Hawaii Pacific in a nonconference match on Wednesday at Waipio.
“I’m pretty excited just to be back here and be able to play in Hawaii,” Arakawa said via phone from Oahu on Friday morning. “My mindset will pretty much be that I’m going to want to go out there, try my best and give it my all to be able to win and just be able to compete against, like, Oahu. There’s going to be girls on the team that I do know. It will be good to compete against those teams in general.”
Only a few matches into her college career, Arakawa is already making an impact in Brookings, S.D.
Coming off the bench in a 2-1 loss to Kansas State in an exhibition match on Aug. 12, Arakawa supplied the pass that led to the South Dakota State goal.
In the Jackrabbits’ first two matches of the season, a 4-1 win over Augustana and a 3-1 victory over Texas Rio Grande Valley, Arakawa started, scored a goal and put five shots on goal.
Prior to Friday, the last time Arakawa played at Waipio was the 2020 Division I state championship match in which she and her King Kekaulike teammates lost a hardfought 1-0 decision to Kamehameha Kapalama.
Arakawa admitted that she will be supercharged to play the Rainbow Wahine on Sunday.
“I would think so because I know that there’s going to be people who know me as well,” she said. “And just knowing and showing what I am as a player and how I am in competing.”
The matches on Oahu this weekend are not being livestreamed nor televised, and fans will not be allowed into the stadium due to COVID-19 concerns.
“That my family can’t be there, it’s really bumming me out,” she said. “But it’s not going to change my playing, I’m going to keep playing to make them happy.”
There’s no question Arakawa wants to make an impression on the UH program that backed off her recruitment, even after her impressive showing at the 2020 state tournament led to her being selected Gatorade state player of the year as a junior.
“I was talking with them for a little bit, but it wasn’t anything, like, super serious,” Arakawa said. “Afterwards it just kind of went away and eventually South Dakota (State) popped up and UH-Hilo, but I’ve enjoyed my decision. … It’s been a good experience so far.”
Arakawa will be ready to show the Rainbow Wahine what they could have had in the two-time MIL Player of the Year.
“I would definitely want to show what I have as a player and pretty much, yeah, what they missed out on,” she said. “And just overall where I am today with my college team.”
Despite the distance, Arakawa feels at home with the Jackrabbits, thanks in no small part to teammates Karlee and Kaycee Manding, both Waipahu alums.
“They make it feel like home, being able to talk to them, like, how we talk is kind of funny,” Arakawa said of the Manding sisters. “Because the way we talk, we catch ourselves saying stuff that the Mainland girls don’t know and we laugh about it. It makes me feel better, makes it feel more like home being able to have them here. Just overall, it’s fun.”
The first time the 50th state trio found themselves communicating in a way others on the roster may not have understood was at a team dinner earlier this month.
“Kaycee was saying … she asked if this was ‘pupus,’ ” Arakawa said. “And then I looked at her and we just started laughing. And then she said, ‘Oh, never mind, appetizers.’
“And I was asking one of the girls if we were pau with practice and she was saying, ‘What? … I didn’t understand you.’ And then I caught myself and said, ‘Oh, shucks, sorry, I forgot you guys didn’t know what pau means, which is finished or done.’ I told them about it.”
SDSU head coach Brock Thompson is excited to have Arakawa on his roster.
“She’s really dynamic, has a lot of tools that allows her to create opportunities for herself and others,” Thompson said. “We’ve used her in a variety of ways this year. … Just her pace with the ball is really special.”
Thompson added, “Karlee (Manding) was the first one that had the courage to come and I think that that has given a comfort level to the others.
“Courage is a great way to describe Teani’s decision. It’s not an easy one. It’s one that we’re grateful for her to be able to trust our program and for her to be a Jackrabbit. I think that there are going to be some really exciting days ahead.”
At just over 5-feet tall, Arakawa has always played larger than she actually is, virtually her entire life.
“My thoughts were no matter how small I am, I still can do what I’ve got to do,” Arakawa said. “And I still can compete, whether they’re same size, smaller or bigger than me.”
The list of coaches and soccer officials she thanked for getting her to the next level was long. It included her family, including sister Tiera Arakawa; King Kekaulike coaches Gundi Dancil, Ken Hayo and Ronnie Kihara, and athletic director P.K. Higa; Maui Rush club coaches; Maui Strikers club coaches; Ignacio Arcas, Timmy Akina, Tony Akina and Tony Medeiros.
Arakawa said representing Maui and the state “is very important to me because all these coaches, and family — my family has helped me become the player I am today and without them my journey would probably be short or it wouldn’t be how it is right now.”
She has a simple message for MIL athletes with sports currently paused due to COVID-19 concerns.
“I would probably tell them to just keep training, keep working hard to better themselves as an athlete, even if they don’t have MIL games or sports,” said Arakawa, whose own senior season with Na Alii was wiped out by the pandemic. “Just keep having a positive mindset of wanting to play because they will probably be hungry to play when they get the chance to. ‘Just enjoy how much you get to play whenever you get the chance to.’ ”