DIVISION I STATE SOCCER
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Mililani's Natalie Wong and Kamehameha's Sanoe Souza battled for the ball yesterday.
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Warriors move on
Tune in, tune out and advance.
Top-seeded Kamehameha got its match in Mililani, and for 100 minutes, they were dead even. However, the Warrior girls were magnificent in penalty-kick time, and Kamehameha took a 2-1 victory over the Trojans last night in the Meadow Gold/HHSAA Division I Girls Soccer State Championships at chilly Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
Defending state champ Kamehameha (9-0-2) will meet Pearl City in a semifinal match today at 8 p.m. The Warriors were absolutely composed through the penalty kicks.
"I felt pretty confident in our team," Kamehameha coach Michelle Nagamine said. "I thought we'd have a winner in overtime, but after the first one, I thought, 'Uh oh.' We don't go to PKs a lot."
Mari Punzal, Meleana Shim, Kylee Ann Ah Choy and Tarra Gabriel cooly rammed home their goals for the Warriors.
Meanwhile, Mililani made only one of its four PKs. One shot hit the crossbar, while another sailed wide right.
"Yes, it's only 12 yards away (from goal), but they're kids. That's a lot of pressure, and it's not easy," Nagamine said. "A penalty kick has nothing to do with skill. It has to do with your ability to tune out everything."
For Mililani (12-2-3), it was a stellar showing in the rematch of last year's title game. Trojans coach Ray Akiona was philosophical about the loss.
"I think neither team has anything to be ashamed of. The game goes down to penalty kicks, both teams deserve to win," he said. "Especially against the No. 1-seeded team, you just gotta take the opportunities you get and try to finish. I'm proud of our team. They stuck together on the field and on the bench."
The contest was a series of collisions from one end to the other, and though the bigger Warriors threatened to score often, their edge in shots-on-goal was just 14-10.
Courtney Botelho, a diminutive freshman, scored Kamehameha's only goal in regulation at the 21-minute mark.
"Jacque (Ho) crossed the ball to me on the ground. I wasn't expecting to hit it. I just put my foot on the ball and it went in," Botelho said.
Two minutes later, Stephanie Yoro connected on a free kick from 35 yards out to tie the game.
In the final few minutes of regulation, Mililani's Mari Taoka, a sophomore, missed on an open shot from the left side, a 15-yarder that sailed right.
Kapolei 1, Kaiser 0
The Oahu Interscholastic Association champion Hurricanes got a goal from Liana Gualdarama at the 44-minute mark and escaped with a win over the OIA's fifth-place team.
Kapolei (12-2-3) will face King Kekaulike today in a 6 p.m. semifinal.
Kaiser dropped to 10-4-2.
Pearl City 3, Konawaena 0
Junior forward Meghan Fuller scored at the 17-minute mark and the Chargers shut down the Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion Wildcats.
Tami Hashimoto, a junior halfback, scored at the 46-minute mark and junior fullback Amy Tanaka scored 3 minutes later to give Pearl City (13-2-2) a commanding lead.
Pearl City, the runner-up from the OIA, will play Kamehameha today at 8 p.m.
Konawaena fell to 14-2.
King Kekaulike 2, Kalani 1
Alexa Loney scored on a header off a corner kick at the 24-minute mark, and Kailey Jean Tokunaga scored at the 43-minute mark as Na Alii hung on for the narrow win.
Rosalei Chinen scored in the waning moments (72-minute mark) for the frustrated Falcons, who had 28 shots on goal. King Kekaulike had just four shots on goal.
Melanie Dickson, a sophomore goalkeeper, had 11 saves for third-seeded King Kekaulike. Na Alii, champions of the Maui Interscholastic League, improved to 12-1-2.
Kalani, the fourth-place team from the OIA, fell to 11-5-1.