Injury bug bites Lady Luna soccer team

The team includes (from left): back row — Amanda Murphy, Avery LaClergue, Maile Altier, Elizabeth Tinao, Bridget Joy, Devyn Wyckoff, Casey Vanderlaan, Leilani Miranda, Michella (Kula) Meyers and Coach David Rockett; front row — Amelia Laborte, Anna Tillman, Siera Olvera, Casey Egan, Erica (Shelby) Liburd, Kamalani Kaholokula, Kayla Ewing and Hija Mae Bautista. Josey Sanchez and Taylor Pante are also on the team.
LAHAINA — Lady Lunas soccer has been a force in the Maui Interscholastic League over the last few years, and 2011 looked to be another breakthrough season for coach Dave Rockett’s charges.
That is, until the grim specter of the injury bug bit into the Lahainaluna High School team.
Three key players, including three-year returning starter Casey Egan, have gone down with injuries, and the squad has been further decimated, as several others on the roster have left the team.
“We have no depth, as we’re down to 11 players or so,” explained Coach Rockett last week from the sparkling new Matrix field turf at the Lahainaluna Athletic Field.
“It’s hard to replace players like Casey Egan (a junior), Bridget Joy (sophomore, second-year starter) and Maile Altier (freshman, starter), but we have to deal with it and move forward,” he said.
“The others are all working hard for each other, and we’ve got three freshmen playing now and they’re all learning fast,” he continued.
“It’s still great to use this new field — it makes things much better for games and practice. We’re still in the hunt to have a productive year.”
The Lady Lunas finished last season in third place in the final MIL standings, and the team is currently 3-3-1 at the home stretch of the current campaign.
The regular season runs through the beginning of February, with the state tournament slated for the following week.
Coach Rockett is assisted by Gonzalo Lopez. The player roster at the beginning of the season included seniors Amelia Laborte, Shelby Liburd, Hija Mae Bautista, Devyn Wyckoff, Kula Meyers, Elizabeth Tinao and Taylor Pante; juniors Amanda Murphy, Avery LaClergue, Casey Vanderlaan, Leilani Miranda, Casey Egan, Kamalani Kaholokula and Josey Sanchez; sophomore Bridget Joy; and freshmen Maile Altier, Anna Tillman, Siera Olivera and Kayla Ewing.
“We send our thanks to Jason Donez at Leilani’s on the Beach, Dean Duque at First Hawaiian Bank-Lahaina Branch and to the Warren Hinton Foundation for their support of Lahainaluna girls soccer,” Rockett concluded.