It’s probably a good idea for upcoming opponents of ‘Iolani to remember that although the Raiders didn’t win the ILH championship, they still haven’t lost.
A ball-control-oriented and speedy Raiders squad kept up their winning ways Monday at home with a 3-0 victory over Moanalua in Division I of the first round of The Queen’s Medical Center/HHSAA Girls Soccer State Championships.
‘Iolani (10-0-3) is looking for its first state title since 2013. Three more wins are needed, starting Thursday in the quarterfinals against fourth-seeded Hilo (8-1-1), the BIIF champions.
“There were moments of good stuff and moments of stuff we need to work on,” Raiders coach Kristin Masunaga said after Monday’s win. “Some of our crosses went across that we didn’t put away. We need to put those away. We’re not going to get as many of those in future games.”
In the 19th minute, ‘Iolani’s patented passing game led the way to the first strike. Mia Watanabe started it with a through pass to Kylie-Kim Bustillos, who broke in on goalkeeper Alexis Davis. Davis stormed out and Bustillos took an arching shot that went over Davis’ head. The ball bounded off the crossbar and Shantel Torres-Benito, stationed at the far left post, trapped the ball down off her chest and easily booted the ball into an open goal for a 1-0 lead.
Early in the second half, ‘Iolani struck again to make it 2-0. This time, Kelsey Takahashi sent a pass through Na Menehune defense to Watanabe, who sped past a defender and knocked the ball into the far left low corner.
Samantha Masca’s rebound goal after a shot by Kaitlyn Uemoto that was saved by Davis boosted the count to 3-0.
“I feel that we did really well and got into a rhythm and that’s what we’ve been working on this whole year,” Bustillos said. “We were all on the same page in this game.”
Defensively, the Raiders were pretty much impenetrable against Na Menehune, who fell to 10-3-1. Aside from several booming direct kicks from Moanalua’s Alyssa Dela Pena and some thrusts into the zone by Kelcie Sumida, Shayna Casupang and Joanne Saroca, the action occurred in Na Menehune’s defensive zone.
Moanalua’s defense was ultra busy, and had it not been for the saves of Davis and the hard work of fullbacks Jolina Saroca and Haley Seleni, among others, the margin of defeat could have been a lot worse.
“(‘Iolani) definitely deserves to advance,” Moanalua coach Nikki Dela Pena said. “It went back and forth in the first half somewhat, but their endurance and speed of play and their constant movement on and off the ball was just a little too much to handle in the second half.”
As alluded to before, ‘Iolani is a force to be reckoned with as the tourney continues. In league play, the closest the Raiders came to a loss were three ties. Top-seeded Punahou captured the ILH title.
Castle 2, Waiakea 0
Tehani Smith broke a scoreless tie with a goal early in the second half and Jimie Napoleon-Kanaha added an insurance goal in the 61st minute for the Knights (11-2-1), who will play ILH champion Punahou (10-1-1) in the second quarterfinal at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium on Thursday at 3 p.m.
The Knights won a state tournament match for the first time since 1998. Waiakea, which is 0-12 all-time in the state tournament, finishes its season 5-5-1.
Pearl City 2, Kapolei 0
Zoe Sano scored in the 46th minutes and reigning Honolulu Star-Advertiser State Player of the Year Sunshine Fontes added a goal in the 64th minute to lead the defending state champion Chargers over the Hurricanes.
Pearl City (10-3-1) will play No. 3 seed Baldwin on Thursday at 7 p.m. Kapolei finished its season 7-5-3.
Aiea 2, Kamehameha-Maui 1, 2 OT
Nicole Olanda scored the game-winning goal in the second overtime period to lead Na Alii over the Warriors.
Brianna Yamada scored Aiea’s first goal in the 33rd minute after KSM’s Kana Mateaki scored in the 12th minute to put the hosts up,
Na Alii (10-2-3), who advanced to the state final in their last appearance in 2014, will play No. 1 seed Mililani on Thursday.
