Kisumu Day High School kicked off their title chase on a high note after thrashing Otieno Oyoo Secondary School 8-0 in hockey as the Kisumu County Secondary School games started on Thursday.
Moses Isigi alias Faruk scored five goals to lead Kisumu Day to victory as Festus Awilly added a brace before captain Reagan Meshack sealed the win that put the hosts at the top of Group A with three points.
Speaking after the win, Kisumu Day coach Booker Odhiambo said their target is maintaining their momentum of scoring more goals with main goal of getting to the national.
Odhiambo said he believes his team has the quality of reclaiming the title they lost last year to Maseno School.
"We have a very good team this year compared to how we were last year. I lost only five boys who were in Form Four and now the team is ripe with Form Two and Form Threes.
"We want to keep the momentum going and make scoring goals a formality to ease our progress to the regionals and nationals," said Odhiambo.
Kisumu Day would then punch their ticket to the semifinals with a game to spare after edging out a stubborn Onjiko 2-0 in their second preliminary match in the evening.
Nyanza Region and defending champions Maseno School on the other hand started their games on a low after being held to a 1-1 draw by Onjiko High School before picking a 3-0 win over Otieno Yoo.
Kisumu Day will face Maseno School on Friday in what will be a must win match for Maseno who will want to finish second or top to qualify for the last four.
Maseno School defeated Kisumu Day 2-1 and 1-0 respectively to win the Kisumu County and Nyanza region games respectively.
In hockey girls, five-time East African champions Sinyolo Girls were stunned 2-1 by Kisumu Girls in their opening match. Other results saw Rae Girls defeat Chemelil 2-0.