WAILUKU >> Mililani girls soccer coach James Uson wanted his team to run Aiea as much as possible during last night's semifinal contest in the Meadow Gold Girls State Championships at War Memorial Stadium. Mililani reaches state final
By Dana McBratney
Special to the Star-Bulletin
He just didn't think his team would run them for 97 minutes before getting the winning goal.
YESTERDAY State Soccer Tourney
At Keopuolani Park (consolation)
Game 11: Kalaheo 2 HPA 1
Game 12: Baldwin 6, Kahuku 0
At War Memorial Stadium
Game 13: Mililani 1, Aiea 0
Game 14: Punahou 3, Pearl City 1TODAY
At War Memorial Stadium
Consolation Championship
Game 15: King Kekaulike vs. Kealakehe, 1:30 p.m.
Fifth-place Game
Game 16: Kalaheo vs. Baldwin, 3:30 p.m.
Third-place Game
Game 17: Aiea vs. Pearl City, 5:30 p.m.
Championship Game
Game 18: Mililani vs. Punahou, 7:30 p.m.
Sophomore Sarah Yoro punched in a goal in the second overtime to give top-seeded and defending champion Mililani (14-0-1) the victory and move the Trojans into the championship match against second-seeded Punahou at 7:30. Punahou (11-0-1) defeated Pearl City 3-1 in the other semifinal.
Aiea takes on Pearl City in the third-place match at 5:30 p.m. King Kekaulike and Kealakehe play at 1:30 p.m. for the consolation championship. Baldwin and Kalaheo battle for fifth at 3:30 p.m.
Aiea came into yesterday's game with two wins in the state tournament, both coming via penalty kicks. Na Alii had played 200 minutes without a goal.
"This was the kind of game I expected," Uson said. "We play them so much that they know how to shut off our passing lanes and the game is always hard-played. We know each other.
"We knew that they had played a lot of minutes and the game plan was to have them run and run and run until there was a breakdown. It just happened that the breakdown came in the 98th minute."
After 97 minutes of play, the game ended suddenly when Yoro found the net off a pass from Liane Tom.
"Actually, it was a very good play up the middle," Yoro said. "Coach told me to stay up high and that would draw the keeper up high and it worked. I got the pass through."
As the pass came to her, Yoro, who is naturally left-footed, was faced with a right-footed shot.
"I was so scared because in practices I have had trouble scoring with my other foot," Yoro said. "It finally came at the right time."
One thing Yoro and her team did not want to happen was the game to come down to penalty kicks. Aiea won both of its previous games by penalty kicks. And rain began to fall during the second overtime, making the field and ball slick.
"I thought we were going to go to PKs," Yoro said. "I was really scared about that because it was so wet and we weren't sure the keepers would be able to stop the kicks."
Mililani outshot Aiea 22-15 in the game, but most of the Trojans' shots came in the first half, when they had 12 to Na Alii's 2. Aiea keeper Diana Shiroma had 11 saves, while Eryn Kishimoto had 12 for Mililani.
In the other semifinal, Punahou got three goals in a six-minute span in the first half to take a 3-1 lead at halftime.
Chelsea Arakawa scored the first goal of the game for Pearl City when she headed in a shot at the 12:22 mark.
"That was a wake-up call for us," said Punahou coach Jorge Barbosa. "We kind of went flat for a couple minutes. It was like shock."
Adria Campbell tied the score for Punahou with a short shot right in front of the goal at 16:49.
Three minutes later, Campbell scored again on an acrobatic shot from 20 yards out that hit the top crossbar, hit the ground and spun into the net.
"Once we went ahead, things started going our way," Barbosa said. "The girls never gave up. They believe in themselves."
Kelly Kalapa stretched the lead to 3-1 when she knocked in a rebound goal. Campbell sent a hard shot at the goal that bounced off the top crossbar and Kalapa tapped in the rebound.
Punahou outshot Pearl City 8-4 in the first half.
Neither team could score in the second half.
"The girls worked so hard to get to the championship game," Barbosa said. "We've got a lot of people who are sick. These girls are playing through fevers and colds. It is a tribute to them."
Punahou won the state title in 1998.
Kalaheo 2, Hawaii Prep 1: In consolation play, Kalaheo earned a spot in the fifth-place game with a penalty-kick win over Hawaii Prep.
Hawaii Prep's Leslie Benigo scored at 21 minutes to give her team a 1-0 lead. That stood until Anela Gonzales punched in a goal at 73 minutes to tie the game at 1. The score stayed that way until the end of regulation time.
In the penalty-kick phase, Kalaheo outscored Hawaii Prep 5-4. The Kalaheo goalkeeper blocked the final kick from Hawaii Prep to get the victory.
Baldwin 6, Kahuku 0: Kami Kapaku scored three goals and Koren Takeyama two to lead the Bears to victory.
The Bears, who came into the tournament seeded third, take on Kalaheo for fifth place.
Hawaii School Web Sites
