Roosevelt earns
state berth

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Star-Bulletin staff

Roosevelt made some school history and Castle outlasted Campbell in an unusually long match in the quarterfinals of the Oahu Interscholastic Association boys soccer playoffs last night.

Roosevelt upended Eastern Division top seed Kaiser 1-0 -- earning a berth in the state tournament for the first time.

"I'm very optimistic all the time, so I expected this," Rough Rider coach Ed Ota said.

"We've been working on this style of play (since he took over three years ago). I had high hopes at the beginning of the season."

Holden Lau scored the lone goal of the match in the second half.

In another quarterfinal yesterday, the Knights and Sabers were scoreless through regulation and two overtimes. They were tied again 4-4 after penalty kicks, sending the match to a sudden-death round of penalty kicks.

Campbell took the first shot, and Castle's senior keeper Travis McDonald deflected the shot wide of the net. Senior midfielder Darrin Kihune followed with a goal to give the Knights the victory.

"It was a pretty decent battle both ways," Castle coach Mark Kane said. "They've got a great scorer, Shauncey Blaine Saito, and they've got good height. They attacked the ball (in front of) the goal. Travis managed to handle the long throw-ins.

"It's been a long while since we've been in the OIA final," said Kane.

The state tournament is Feb. 12-15 at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park.

"Our first (goal) was to win the East, and then qualify for states. Now we want to get the OIA (title). But next up is Mililani, the defending state and OIA champions."

Kaiser was the runner-up in the OIA tournament last season.

Mililani, which beat Kapolei 5-0 last night, hosts Castle in the first semifinal Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. Pearl City and Roosevelt square off in the second game at 7 p.m.

Pearl City beat Moanalua 3-0.

Christopher Kaaukuu, Kenshiro Uki and Ricky Shinn scored for the Chargers against the Menehunes.

Justin Kim led Mililani's effort with a pair of goals. Ceferin Oliva, Todd Sorbin and Nathan Amous also netted goals for the Trojans. Mililani has won the OIA boys championship five times in the past eight seasons.

The four teams that lost yesterday will battle for the OIA's fifth and final state tournament berth. Campbell and Kapolei play on Tuesday at 5:15 p.m. at Castle, followed by Moanalua and Kaiser.

Third- and fifth-place games are Friday. The OIA boys championship match is Saturday at Pearl City at 7:30 p.m.