Arakawa pushes
Pearl City past Kapaa

After being dominated in the first period, the Pearl City Chargers reeled off five unanswered goals in the second half to easily defeat Kapaa 6-2 yesterday in the first round of the HHSAA/Meadow Gold Dairies Girls Soccer State Championship at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.

With the win, the Chargers advanced to the quarterfinals and will take on No. 1 seed Punahou tonight.

Charger forward Chelsea Arakawa continued her ultra-productive play of the regular season, scoring two goals in the game. Arakawa has scored 19 goals this season.

"Chelsea is an outstanding young lady," said Pearl City co-head coach Frank Baumholtz III, adding that Arakawa is well-rounded and holds a 3.8 grade point average. "She's been able to decide which are the balls to shoot and which are the balls to pass."

With their overall size advantage, the Warriors controlled the tempo of the game throughout the first half.

"We had it (the win), " Kapaa coach Chrissy Marti said. "We made them look silly in the first half."

In the 13th minute, Kaala Leong drew a one-on-one with Pearl City goalie Amber Horn and kicked a low shot into the bottom right corner of the net.

Pearl City answered when Arakawa scored the Chargers' lone goal of the first half in the 23rd minute. The senior co-captain sent a rainbowing shot from outside the box that sailed just over the head of the Warrior goalie.

"I saw the goalie pushed up ... so I just lofted it," Arakawa said.

But the Warriors continued to control the ball and create scoring opportunities. In the 34th minute, Kapaa's Joanne Koona made the most of a penalty kick in the box, driving the ball into the bottom left corner of the net.

"That was the most horrible half we ever had," Arakawa said.

"We did everything; we played a perfect first half," Marti said. "They (the Warriors) played almost to perfection."

Mililani 2, King Kekaulike 0

The Trojans overcame a slow start to defeat King Kekaulike in a first-round game.

Raimee Ortega finished a cross from Natalie Wong in the 37th minute to give the Trojans the 1-0 lead just before halftime. Ortega tapped the ball over the head of the goalkeeper.

"In the beginning, our team wasn't playing together," Ortega said.

"We started off kind of uneasy, a lot of errors, but I think we settled down in the second half, played a more controlled game," Mililani coach Ray Akiona said. "It wasn't our normal flow. I think it was just first-day jitters."

Trojan Cami Kageno scored an insurance goal in the 73rd minute off a cross by Kelsie Woodward.

"I just volleyed it in," Kageno said. Both Mililani goals were one-touch scores.

"They were well-executed shots," Akiona said.

The Trojans advanced to the quarterfinal round and will play fourth-seeded Hilo this afternoon.