‘Iolani kept its seat at the head of the class in ILH Division I boys soccer on Wednesday with a 1-1 tie against host Punahou.
As expected, the encounter between the two rivals was intense. Although the Raiders had a distinct territorial edge, they had to fend off a hearty Punahou attack in the final five minutes.
Known for its unyielding defense throughout the years, ‘Iolani found itself in the unaccustomed position of being in a 1-0 hole early and was fortunate to eventually get the equalizer.
"They scored that first goal and it changed the complexion of the game and our game plan," Raiders coach Chris Lee said. "We were able to get it back and the tie doesn’t hurt. We just have to move on to the next game. There were a lot of emotions out there in the game."
After being dominated in the first 10 minutes, the Buffanblu struck suddenly in the 11th minute, when Steven Yoshimoto headed home Bennett Ho’s 35-yard direct kick.
"Bennett, our outside back, has been playing great all year and he served up the ball. I just touched it and redirected it," Yoshimoto said. "Often after we score, we get complacent and tend to use the long ball instead of trying to settle it. We want to win every game, but a tie is not the worst thing. We’re still in a good position to advance to states."
‘Iolani is at 7-1-1 and Punahou is in second place at 6-2-2. If they stay in those spots, both will move on to the big show. Kamehameha (5-3-1) is trying to nudge in.
It took 15 minutes — in the 26th minute — for the Raiders to tie it up on a graceful goal. Midfielder Matt Alexander drove in from the left and fed a pass to the right to Keoni Simon, who made a move to the inside and delivered a left-footed kick into the low left corner of the net from 24 yards out.
"I’m not a lefty, but I get pretty lucky with my left foot sometimes," Simon said. "The defender gave me a little space, my mind went blank and I went for the shot."
‘Iolani continued with its field-position edge into the second half, and its defense, led by Ronnie Bartenstein and Trey Curet, held the Buffanblu out of striking distance.
Forward Keoni-Kordell Makekau’s hard shot after a long pass from Spencer Ho nearly put ‘Iolani on top, but Punahou goalkeeper Connor Goo made a diving save.
Late in the game, the Buffanblu finally got their offense in gear, and part of it was due to the second yellow card (equaling a red card) given to Bartenstein. He was removed from the game, creating an 11-on-10 situation, for about the last 15 minutes.
"I think it (the 11 on 10) was more of a psychological thing that made a difference," Buffanblu coach David Trifonovitch said. "It put ‘Iolani on its heels and it opened up the midfield. We were outplayed the whole game (before that), scrambling on defense and struggling with our transition from defense to offense."
With some of its best passing of the match, Punahou nearly got the go-ahead goal twice in the last five minutes.
A dangerous cross from Ho to Yoshimoto inside the box failed when the ‘Iolani fullbacks collapsed on Yoshimoto.
"I thought I had more time to settle and shoot," Yoshimoto said.
Moments later, Reo Nagai’s blast from the left side was thwarted by diving ‘Iolani goalkeeper Danny Leong.
Punahou was without midfielder Christopher Brubaker, who scored two goals and also got a red card in the Buffanblu’s 2-0 win over Kamehameha on Saturday.
‘Iolani’s Bartenstein will miss Saturday’s home game against Damien while Punahou hosts Saint Louis.
ILH
Varsity boys
Pac-Five 3, Saint Louis 2
Kamehameha 6, Damien 0
Punahou 1, ‘Iolani 1
Goal scorers–Pac: Quinn Tommasino, Michael Ramos, Trey Larsen. StL: Sergei Scharer 2. KS: Carter Cameron 2, Jason Lau, Nainoa Tomimoto-Kim, Keola Norton, Noah Crabbe. Pun: Steven Yoshimoto. Iol: Keoni Simon.
