Alysha Somera’s shot at redemption found the net and Waipahu captured the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II girls soccer championship with a 1-0 win over Kalaheo on a blustery Saturday evening at Castle.

Granted a penalty kick in the first half of the title match, the Waipahu junior had an apparent goal waved off due to an infraction. She was awarded a second attempt, but it sailed over the crossbar and the Marauders went into halftime locked in a scoreless tie with the defending champion Mustangs.

“Kinda bummed,” Somera said of her mood after missing the penalty kick.

“I really wanted to give back for the team because I missed that, so I tried so hard just to win for them.”

Waipahu turned up the pressure early in the second half and Somera worked free on the right side of the goal, angled a shot into the left side of the net and the Marauders held off Kalaheo the rest of the way to claim the program’s second OIA championship.

Waipahu also secured the OIA’s seeded berth in the Division II state tournament, which opens Feb. 1 at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.

“I think it’s huge, not only for the school, but for the community,” said second-year Waipahu coach Brent Murakami. “We have been doing some good things at Waipahu, not only in soccer but the school as well.

“Not all of them play club soccer … so for them to come out and battle every day it’s pretty special for me as a coach to see these players that don’t play year-round to give it their all for four months and compete at this level.”

Both teams went 6-3-1 in the regular season to earn the top seeds in the D-II bracket and Kalaheo returned to the final with a 2-0 win over Radford on Thursday, while Waipahu held off Waianae 2-1 to advance.

Waipahu freshman Arianna Amato stopped an early Kalaheo threat and the Marauders appeared to take the lead on Somera’s penalty kick in the 32nd minute. But the goal was disallowed due to a Waipahu player entering the penalty area before her kick.

After missing her second attempt, the speedy forward kept pushing and converted when an opportunity arose 13 minutes into the second half.

“The ball came over and I was going to hit it, but I stopped,” Somera said. “I cut it back and I saw the open slot on the left side of the goal so I hit it.”

Said Murakami: “Her growth, her development has come along. If that happens a year ago, maybe she doesn’t score that game winner. … She’s a junior but she’s a three-year starter and a club player, so she’s been able to grow to put things behind her.”

Kalaheo controlled the action for much of the final 20 minutes, but Waipahu managed to seal off the goal. The Mustangs took six shots to Waipahu’s four and Amato made two saves.

“We made an adjustment after they scored the first one … (momentum) sort of changed around the last 20 minutes,” Kalaheo coach Alan Heu said. “We just couldn’t make those connections to try to get it in.”