Inagaki’s overtime goal gives Kalaheo first title since 1998

At the end of regulation, Kalaheo coach John Nakagawa had a simple message for his team.

“Let’s go for it,” Nakagawa said. “Don’t hold back.”

Senior Cody Inagaki obliged his coach’s wishes, scoring the golden goal three minutes into overtime to give the Mustangs a 1-0 victory over Farrington in the OIA White championship game on Friday night at Kaiser Stadium.

Kalaheo (10-0-1), the top seed out of the East, claimed its first OIA boys soccer title since 1998 and first OIA White championship ever.

“What’s made this team so special is their cohesiveness and the support everybody has for each other,” said Nakagawa, who is in his eighth season as head coach. “One thing that has set this team apart is our balance. Last year we only had two seniors; this year we have 10.”

The Mustangs defeated the Governors 4-0 in the regular season but had a much harder time putting Farrington (5-7-1) away this time.

Inagaki’s goal came early in the extra period after a long pass from Tyler Williams into the middle of the field.

Inagaki controlled the ball and dribbled toward the left side, getting deep into the box before stopping on a dime, allowing the defender to go past him before ripping a shot into the net to end the game.

“I couldn’t be any happier than I am right now,” Inagaki said. “(Williams) said he’d (make that pass) at the beginning of the game and I guess he followed through.”

Kalaheo has outscored its opponents 42-10 this season and did not give up a goal in either playoff game.

Farrington, which was the East’s No. 2 seed, had been outscored 29-15 in the regular season but advanced to the final after beating Waipahu 1-0 in two overtimes and Waianae 3-0 a day later.

Govs co-head coach David Chattergy said Inagaki burned his team in the regular season and tried to keep up with him by matching up senior Bill Adona on him the entire game.

“Cody is one of the best players in the state and is so knowledgeable,” Chattergy said. “We sat back and tried to figure out and worked out a pretty dang good game plan tonight.”

The Govs kept only one forward up for most of the game, focusing more on keeping Kalaheo out of the net.

It worked during regulation, but once overtime started, Chattergy said, they decided to go for it and tried to press forward.

“We knew we had to push to try and get a goal,” Chattergy said. “That’s soccer. You just can’t sit back forever. I knew Cody would get free at some point and was just hoping he’d miss.”

Nakagawa said the Mustangs countered Farrington’s defensive strategy by pulling Inagaki back from forward to midfield.

“We pulled him back and had him attack out of the midfield to give us more space,” Nakagawa said.

“We were trying and trying and we weren’t getting anywhere because Farrington is such a good team and so we had to adjust our game plan to them.”

Farrington will open play in the state tournament on Feb. 6, while the Mustangs earned a first-round bye with the win.