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Momentum ebbed between ‘Iolani and Punahou throughout their match Wednesday afternoon.
After the final whistle, control of the ILH Division I boys soccer race remained up for grabs as well following a 2-2 tie at ‘Iolani’s Kozuki Stadium.
Tyler Ebisuya gave the Raiders the lead in the 15th minute, but the Buffanblu went ahead at 2-1 on goals by Noah Williams and Peyton Sommer in the first 15 minutes of the second half.
‘Iolani answered with Tanner Shimomoto’s penalty kick with about 13 minutes left and both teams managed to fend off late threats to preserve the tie.
“It just tightens up the race,” ‘Iolani coach Chris Lee said. “I guess you could call it a typical ILH soccer season.”
Punahou remains in first place at 7-1-2, good for 23 points in the standings, with two matches left in the regular season. ‘Iolani follows at at 6-1-2 and 20 points with three matches remaining on its schedule. The league’s top two teams qualify for next month’s Division I state tournament.
“I think it helps both of us,” Buffanblu coach David Trifonovitch said of the outcome. “We’re both looking to get to the postseason and play in the state tournament, so I think it helps us both getting there.”
Punahou hosts Damien on Saturday and closes the regular season a week later against Pac-Five, which handed the Buffanblu a 1-0 loss on Dec. 20.
‘Iolani faces Mid-Pacific on Saturday before taking on Damien and third-place Kamehameha next week.
While Punahou is pursuing the opportunity to defend its state championship, ‘Iolani is chasing a return to the postseason after falling short of a tournament berth last year.
“I think we have a bunch of seniors who were real disappointed that we didn’t get there last year when we felt we had a good enough team,” Lee said. “Just getting out of the league is tough enough.”
Punahou won the first meeting between the teams 2-0 on Dec. 14, but ‘Iolani took the lead in the rematch when Ebisuya gathered the ball in front of the net and fired in the game’s first goal.
‘Iolani goalkeeper Koa Among protected the lead until Williams and Sommer knocked in rebounds in traffic to push Punahou ahead.
“We play a game (in practice) called World Cup, which is a simulation of a bunch of guys in the box and we serve balls in and they knock the ball around,” Trifonovitch said. “We said it’s two ‘World Cup’ goals.”
After seeing the lead evaporate, Lee said the Raiders looked to “just stick to our game plan, try to move the ball a little more to crate opportunities.”
“Punahou, they’re a real a big, physical team so for us to try to go head-to-head with them in that type of a game was not advantageous for us,” Lee said.
Close to 10 minutes after Sommer’s goal, ‘Iolani was awarded a free kick near midfield and a foul was called in the penalty box in the scramble for possession. Shimomoto then calmly drilled the penalty kick to tie the match.
Both teams threatened in the remaining time, but neither could muster a tie-breaking goal.
“We had some momentum at the end. We were trying to get that game-winner, just couldn’t find the net,” Trifonovitch said.
OIA girls
Kapolei 3, Campbell 1
Kori Koverman, Bryana Yoshida and Cait Perry scored goals and the Hurricanes secured a berth in the state tournament with a win over the Sabers.
Aiea 3, Kahuku 2
Nicole Olanda scored two goals and Samantha Schaefer scored one to earn Na Alii a trip to states.
Waianae 8, McKinley 0
Hannah Bradbury and Hana Santana each scored two goals as the Seariders routed the Tigers to win an OIA Division II semifinal match.
Waianae punched its first ticket to states since 2013.
Radford 6, Farrington 0
Seila Davenport and Hannah Heffelfinger each scored twice as the Rams beat the Governors for a state berth and a spot in the OIA Division II semifinals.
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