‘Iolani had to snap one bad streak in order to keep the good one going.

Sophomore Sasha Asselbaye’s flick-in header off a Taylor Arakaki throw-in snapped a run of 250 consecutive minutes without a goal for the Raiders, who defeated Punahou 1-0 on Wednesday at Kozuki Stadium to clinch the ILH’s second berth in the state tournament.

The defending state champion Raiders (10-3-1) will play in their ninth consecutive state tournament and open defense of their crown Monday at ‘Iolani in a first-round game against Moanalua.

“We’re so excited. Last year after the championship, I feel like we really wanted to come back and show after losing so many seniors what the core of this team is all about,” said Asselbaye, whose goal came in the 70th minute. “Getting to states was our ultimate goal in this game and after those two losses (against Punahou and Kamehameha) I felt like we were down and stuff so to get back up with this win is great.”

The Raiders lost control of their own destiny after losing a 1-0 game to Kamehameha in penalty kicks on Jan. 19 in a first-round tiebreaker. The Raiders then lost to Punahou 2-0 last week and needed the Warriors to beat the Buffanblu on Monday to force a tiebreaker for second place.

Kamehameha clinched the ILH title with a 2-0 win, giving ‘Iolani another crack at the Buffanblu (8-4-2) on Wednesday.

The Raiders, who hadn’t lost an ILH regular-season game in four years coming into this season, used the time between the Punahou loss and Wednesday’s game to have a bit of an attitude adjustment.

“We told them based on their effort, that’s what would determine who is going to play,” ‘Iolani coach Kristin Masunaga said. “We liked the effort the first half — had a couple of opportunities — and told them we have to keep pressing whatever it takes to get a goal and they wanted it.”

Punahou controlled the first five minutes of the game in ‘Iolani territory, but the Raiders gave up only three shots in the entire 80 minutes and just one in the second half.

Neither team attempted a corner kick until the second half when ‘Iolani began to show glimpses of putting together real scoring opportunities.

The winner came when Arakaki, who had already attempted a few deep throw-ins in the game, got one just short of the right post that Asselbaye was able to put in with her back toward the goal.

“I flicked it backwards. That was supposed to be the whole play and we got lucky there,” Asselbaye said. “It was such a relief because we had to get the first goal and it would keep our energy up.”

Added Arakaki: “It was amazing because before the half I told (Asselbaye) to score and she said she’d score off of a header and I guess that was the one.”

The 5-foot-3 Arakaki has the ability to land a throw in the box in front of the goal on balls that go out of bounds in the opposing quarter of the field.

That single skill turns a simple throw-in into a scoring chance nearly every time Arakaki has her hands on the ball. It’s just not as easy as she makes it look.

“We can’t practice it that much because it hurts her back,” Masunaga said. “I was worried today that her back was going to be sore, but we just said ‘suck it up.’ She could rest after the game. Her throw is a lethal weapon.”