After winning the ILH on points, the Kamehameha girls soccer team left no doubt that it is the best team in the state.
The Warriors beat rival ‘Iolani 1-0 in front of 2,502 fans in the championship of the Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Girls Soccer State Championships at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium on Saturday night.
Kamehameha (13-1-1), which had lost to and tied with ‘Iolani (12-1-3) in the regular season but won the ILH when undefeated ‘Iolani stumbled with a pair of ties, won its first state title since 2008 and seventh overall.
"I am just totally amazed by this team," Kamehameha coach Missy Moore said. "They just, game after game, find it within themselves to come together as a team and get the job done."
Freshman Kawai Makue scored for Kamehameha, her second goal in two days, off a scrum when the Warriors cleared every Raider from in front of the goal, and she tapped in the ball past ‘Iolani keeper Lexi Felix.
"It was just bouncing in the goal, then it came out and I saw it and I kicked it in," Makue said.
With 28 minutes left, Kamehameha had its most impressive display of the game. ‘Iolani’s Kylie Takafuji left Kamehameha keeper Sarah Davis prone in the grass between the goal and the sideline after stealing the ball from her, leaving an open goal for the potent Raiders to take a shot at.
And they took their best shot four straight times, with Kamehameha defenders Kayla Mizo, Vanessa Cabilan and Shyann Moriguchi all taking turns sending the ball back the other way.
"We just wanted to get it out," Mizo said. "Whatever it takes to get it out. Anything to get it out, we stayed strong the entire game."
Moore was not quite so confident. But as always, her girls came through.
"I don’t know what happened there," Moore said. "I was like, ‘Can we clear a ball, please?’ I was just like there was a shield of our players and they just found a way to keep it out of the goal and that was huge."
The threat got even bigger when ‘Iolani’s Kama Pascua was pulled down just outside the box, giving Amanda McCaskill a free kick. She punched a blazer over the goal by inches to give Kamehameha’s defense a chance to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Sometimes you just get unlucky," ‘Iolani coach Kristin Masunaga said. "We had our opportunities. I don’t think their keeper really had to make any saves this game."
Kamehameha’s force field stayed in front of the goal to the very end.
‘Iolani got an excellent chance to tie it with 3 minutes left when Pascua beat Shyann Moriguchi around the corner and had a shot that Davis corralled. McCaskill got a penalty kick a minute later, but her attempt just missed high.
Mililani 1, Moanalua 0
Junior forward Brittney Gideon scored in the 52nd minute to lift the Trojans (13-3-1) over Na Menehune (11-2-3) for third place.
Baldwin 5, Kealakehe 3
The MIL-champ Bears (15-2) bolted to a 4-0 lead and beat the Waveriders (15-2) for fifth place.
Kapolei 3, Konawaena 0
Cherise Vidinha scored three goals to power the Hurricanes (11-4-1) past the Wildcats (11-5-1) in the consolation final.
