HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER
Kapolei wins on PKs, joins boys in finals
OIA Girls Soccer Semifinals
Kapolei lived up to its end of the bargain last night.
The Hurricanes pulled out a 2-1 win over previously unbeaten Mililani on penalty kicks in the Oahu Interscholastic Association girls soccer semifinals at Moanalua. They join the Kapolei boys team in the championship matches on Saturday.
The Hurricanes have the advantage of hosting both games, with the girls playing Pearl City and the boys playing Kalani.
"We kind of made a bet with the boys team that we'd meet them in the finals," said Kapolei coach Brian Beck. "(On Tuesday) night and our girls supporting the boys (in their semifinal win); for the girls there was no way they were going to lose tonight. The boys were already there, it would kill them if we weren't there at the home field."
So what was the bet?
"I told the girls the only time they're allowed to date -- there's one date that they can go on -- Saturday night with the boys team," Beck said with a grin.
Goalkeeper Ashlee Dela Cruz pressured the first and fourth Trojans penalty shooters to miss wide to the right, and Hurricanes sophomore Liana Gualdarama, the fifth Hurricanes shooter, launched the game-winning kick into the top right of the net for a 4-3 edge. Teammates immediately ran across the field and swarmed both players in celebration.
Chyanne Alejado, Chaney Lopez and Kirsten Otsuka connected for Kapolei's other penalty-kick goals, and Chelsey Goo, Breeanna Locquiao and Kristin Sagami made good on theirs for Mililani.
Kapolei had the distinct advantage of being in that situation before, this season, whereas Mililani has not. The Hurricanes defeated Kaiser in a shootout in the quarterfinals.
"We might have had a little edge over (Mililani)," said Gualdarama, who scored Kapolei's lone goal in regulation when she caught several Trojans defenders napping at the 52-minute mark. "We've been there (in penalty kicks), and they haven't."
The Trojans answered when sophomore forward Jackie Suan capitalized on a cross at 63:00, setting the stage for overtime.
Neither team managed a solid shot in either of the two 10-minute extra periods.
But Mililani (10-1-3), the top OIA West seed, was at a disadvantage when its first penalty shot missed wide. Things evened up when Kapolei's second attempt went awry, and both teams connected on their third shots. The Hurricanes went one-up in the fourth round on Otsuka's blast inside the left post.
Sagami kept Mililani's hopes alive by nailing her do-or-die shot in the fifth circuit, but Gualdarama -- Kapolei's leading goal scorer in the regular season with 11 -- was money on her clinching attempt.
Mililani's leading scorer, Stephanie Yoro (10 goals) , never got a clean shot off last night.
The West's third-seeded Hurricanes (10-2-3) have never been to an OIA final before.
Pearl City 1, Kalani 0, OT
A second try was all Meghan Fuller needed to lift Pearl City into the Oahu Interscholastic Association championship game with an overtime win against Kalani.
When a near-goal was averted by Kalani about 5 minutes into overtime, the Chargers made good on another chance just 2 minutes later.
"Amy Tanaka threw it in, Kaitlyn Holt knocked the ball down and it went right in front of Meghan Fuller and she got the touch," said exuberant Pearl City coach Frank Baumholtz III. "That was a nice play; everyone was where they needed to be."