Mililani’s Jamin Fonseca was trying to make a hard cross and hoping one of his teammates would get a touch on it.
It almost happened. Instead, it caromed off a Kalani player and into the net to give the Trojans a 1-0 double-overtime victory in the OIA championship boys soccer match Saturday night at the Castle High field.
It was Mililani’s sixth league title since 2008 and 16th overall.
"I’m really at a loss for words," Fonseca said after the game when asked what it felt like to score the title-winning goal. "The coach wanted us to turn up the intensity in the second half and we did."
The head referee after the game credited Fonseca with the goal in the 94th minute. To many, it appeared that Marc Matas — who scored the game-winner in double overtime of the OIA semifinal win over Kalaheo — kicked it in.
Asked after the game if he got a piece of it, Matas said, "No."
The game was evenly played for all of the first half and most of the second until the Trojans turned up the heat in the last 15 minutes of regulation. That momentum continued into the overtimes.
"Our team was really tired and we weren’t ready to deal with how fast Mililani turned it up," said the Falcons’ Takahiro Kosins, who applied lots of pressure on Mililani from his striker position all night long.
Kalani lost in the OIA final for the second year in a row and has never won an OIA title.
"We were tired and they (Mililani) sensed blood in the water and attacked us," Kalani coach Michael Ching said. "I thought we could have won the game. We were down to the last five minutes and we have who I feel is the best goalkeeper in the state in Michael Stafford. We lost and I’m disappointed, but I don’t mind losing to the team that just won another in a long line of championships."
The Falcons had their patented passing attack down in the first half and came close on a handful of occasions.
"Kalani outpossessed us in the first half and outplayed us all over the field," Mililani coach Steve McGehee said. "I told our boys (at halftime) that we needed to match their intensity and win the individual battles."
McGehee took a page from Ching’s book when talking about the late attack: "We smelled blood in the water. This is a great group, where any one of our guys can step up and make a difference."
Both the Trojans (12-1) and Falcons (11-1-1) will play in the Division I state tournament in two weeks.
