After two years of heartbreak, the Kapaa boys soccer team found its pulse.

Kapaa beat Mid-Pacific 2-1 in the Division II final of the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts/HHSAA Boys Soccer Championships at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park on Saturday night.

The Warriors lost to Honokaa in the championship in each of the past two years, and they never allowed themselves to forget it.

"A lot of the boys knew the second-place feeling and it motivated us all year," Kapaa midfielder Joshua Cramm said. "With everything we did, that feeling fueled us."

Kapaa (11-0-4) pressured young Mid-Pacific immediately, earning two shots and having one bang off the bar before the Warriors broke through in the eighth minute. Kapaa outshot Mid-Pacific 17-9 in the game.

TJ West was awarded a throw-in from near the corner flag and put his toss right in front of the goal. Tanner Henry rose above everyone and directed a header into the right corner of the goal. He couldn’t have placed it better if he was allowed to carry it to its destination and toss it in.

"They play with a lot of intensity and a lot of heart," Mid-Pacific coach Jayson Abe said. "They really took it to us in the first 20 minutes, which is a crucial time in a state championship game.

The Owls immediately substituted their co-captain, Harland Blue-Pierce, into the midfield and it paid dividends right away.

Blue-Pierce, who sat out the first 20 minutes because of various injuries, took the kickoff and moved the ball into Kapaa territory for the Owls’ first time, pushed a ball into the middle of the box to Eshan Mehta, who looked like he was going to kick it out to an open man but heel-kicked it past Kapaa’s surprised keeper in the ninth minute.

The goal only seemed to make Kapaa push even harder. The Warriors went up 2-1 in the 21st minute when Michael Alonzo got a run on Mid-Pacific’s tight defense but maintained his step on his mark all the way into the middle of the box. He unleashed a low shot that never rose above the Owls’ white shirts, making it hard for Mid-Pacific keeper Andrew Musgrave to get a bead on it.

He didn’t get a good look at it until it settled into the back of the goal.

"He’s got a lot of pace, he gave us all sorts of problems," Abe said. "He is very opportunistic, too. All he has to do is put his foot on it and he knows where the goal is."

Alonzo was the team’s sweeper three games into the season, but moved up front because of an injury to Trevor McCracken and two draws to open. The move paid off with a state title.

"Speed is one of his fortes," Kapaa coach Kevin Cramm said. "Getting loose and getting through there is what he does and he just outran the defense"

Mid-Pac (4-7-1), won three in a row after going more than a month without a win, scoring three goals in a game in both games of the state tournament after going the whole season without doing so. The Owls knew they were going to the state tournament as the ILH’s lone Division II team, and they did the most with it when they got there. They can take some heart that Kapaa knows exactly what they are feeling.

"Last year I think we were a little surprised to make it to the final with the juniors we had," Kevin Cram said. "I think our team was a little older. The majority of them were seniors and they had that experience last year. Mid-Pacific has a lot of talent."