As clutch performers go, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better weapon in the high school ranks than Kylee Kim-Bustillos.
An ‘Iolani senior, Kim-Bustillos broke open what had been an intensely played scoreless game with two goals late in the first half to lead the Raiders to a 2-1 victory over Punahou in Saturday night’s Division I final of The Queen’s Medical Center/HHSAA Girls Soccer State Championships at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
“Kylee, she just wants to win and will do whatever it takes,” ‘Iolani coach Kristin Masunaga had said prophetically Friday after a 3-0 win over Mililani in the semifinals.
Those two goals by Kim-Bustillos held up for the Raiders’ fifth state title and first since 2013, despite Punahou’s heavy-duty second-half comeback attempt. The Raiders (13-0-3) also proved to be the best in the state in 1987, ’92 and ’99.
In the 35th minute, Kim-Bustillos gathered in an up pass from Kelsey Takahashi and went in on a 1-on-1 against Buffanblu defender Kiara Fairbairn, who made an initial stop on the play. The ball came to a halt and Kim-Bustillos recovered and turned around for a perfectly placed left-footed shot high into the center of the goal. Punahou goalkeeper Sunny Kane had no chance.
Some intense offensive pressure and quick passing right before the goal resulted in the small opening in the Buffanblu defense.
Kim-Bustillos was at it again one minute later. This time, she dribbled in speedily and got a step ahead of Fairbairn before shooting and finding the low left corner for a 2-0 edge.
“Those were two beautiful balls sent to Kylee and she finished them,” Masunaga said. “It shows her maturity. I’m just so super happy for the team, especially this senior class. A lot of them were there when we lost to Mililani in the final two years ago and again last year when we got bumped off in the semis. It’s very special.”
Punahou (12-2-1) made many first-half offensive thrusts before suddenly finding itself in that big 2-0 hole that eventually proved to be too big to climb out of.
Lauren Mukaigawa’s goal in the 71st minute for the Buffanblu proved they weren’t going to go down easy. With about five minutes to go, True Dydasco’s 28-yard missile went right into the hands of Raiders goalkeeper Kawai Scanlan. There were other flurries in front of the ‘Iolani goal, including a header by Fairbairn that went just wide, but the Raiders held on.
“I’m just happy that we could finally win it my senior year,” Kim-Bustillos said. “This is great. I’ve been waiting for this for so long. It felt great that our whole school came out to support us, one team. Punahou did a great job, too.”
Defensively, the Raiders came up big, with top-notch performances by fullbacks Kelsey Wong and Taylor Arakaki and midfielder Sierra Wheeler, among others. They kept dangerous Punahou forwards Jamie-Lyn Shimamoto and Layla Santos in check.
“It’s an amazing team and I’m lucky to play with each every one of them,” said Wong, a freshman.
The second-seeded and Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion Buffanblu (10-1-1 for 31 points in the league) did not succeed in their attempt for a 12th state title. Their only two losses this year were at the hands of ‘Iolani (9-0-3 for 30 points in the ILH), which placed second to Punahou in the league and did not get one of the state tourney’s four seeds despite going unbeaten.
“It was a tough loss,” the Buffanblu’s Shimamoto, a sophomore, said. “We wanted to play for our seniors and played as hard as we could and there’s not much we can do about it now. It was a great season.”
Third place
Mililani 1, Pearl City 0
Fifth place
Castle 1, Hilo 0
