A tie as good as a win as Punahou claims crown

Punahou picked up the most rewarding tie of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu boys soccer season on Friday.

The scoreless draw against host Mid-Pacific on the final day of the league season enabled Punahou to win the league title.

“It wasn’t one of our better performances,” Buffanblu coach David Trifonovitch said. “We got a little bit off of our game plan and were chasing the ball around a little bit. But our defense has been our strength all year, so to keep them scoreless was huge.”

The Owls (8-1-3) needed to beat the Buffanblu (9-0-3) to force a playoff for the title.

Despite needing only a tie, Trifonovitch said his team was playing for the victory.

“We started off with an offensive lineup in the first half, trying to get a little bit more going,” he said. “They were controlling the midfield a little more than we wanted, so we had to put another player in the midfield. We were still flying out of that and you could see it in the end, we were going for a win. We wanted to score.”

Both teams had already qualified for The Queen’s Medical Center/HHSAA State Division I Championships, which start Feb. 24 at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex. Punahou will be the ILH’s seeded team and receive a first-round bye in the tournament.

“A tie got us the title. Now we’re just looking forward to states,” Buffanblu goalie Tyler Ohata said.

Mid-Pacific came close to scoring on a couple of opportunities, only to be denied by Ohata.

The Owls’ Kohei Tomita took a shot from 22 yards and the ball struck a Buffanblu player and took a tricky hop in front of the goal. Ohata was able to direct the ball just over the crossbar.

“A reaction save. I just tipped it over, luckily,” Ohata said.

Mid-Pacific’s final chance came in the 77th when Payton Boyd’s shot from in close was blocked by a diving Ohata.

“Tyler’s been awesome all year,” said Trifonovitch, whose team allowed two goals during the league season. “He hasn’t been tested a lot, but when he does get tested, he comes up huge.”

The Owls’ Tyler Allen and Tomita worked well together and put their team in position to score, especially in the first half.

“I thought we had a lot of opportunities,” Mid-Pacific coach Jayson Abe said. “We had a fair amount of possession. It was one of those games where we couldn’t find the back of the net, unfortunately.”

Mid-Pacific’s Brad Yamashita was solid in goal as well.

One of Punahou’s best scoring opportunities came in the 44th when Christopher Brubaker’s free kick from 23 yards sailed just over the crossbar.

The Buffanblu also had a couple of counter attacks late in the game when the Owls pushed players forward.