One goal.
That’s all Kaiser and Kalani had allowed through 12 OIA soccer matches. So it stood to reason that a single score would decide Saturday’s matchup of the East Oahu rivals in the OIA Division I boys soccer championship at Kapolei.
After 91 tension-filled yet scoreless minutes, Kalani junior Kai Sigler split two Kaiser defenders and sent a pass across the goal and sophomore Rei Naiki punched it into the net to give the Falcons their second OIA title in the past three years with a 1-0 win in double overtime.
Sigler both defied then heeded his coach’s guidance in setting up Naiki’s golden goal.
At the start of the second overtime, “I asked Coach if I could go up and score, but he said no, stay back,” Sigler said. “I just saw opportunity and I’m like ‘I’m gonna do it.’ I just went for it.
“At the end when I was about to shoot it I just remembered what Coach told me. He told me always cross it if I go down line because there’s always going to be someone there. I saw Rei and I just hit it to him and he finished the game for us.”
Kalani (12-0-1) earned the OIA’s seeded berth in the Division I bracket of The Queen’s Medical Center/HHSAA Boys Soccer State Championships. The first-round matches are set for Feb. 12 and the Falcons open state tournament play in the quarterfinals on Feb. 15.
The previous goals allowed by the Cougars (11-1-1) and Falcons came against each other in a 1-1 tie on Jan. 17.Kaiser won a coin flip for the OIA East’s top seed and shut out Castle and Moanalua on its way to the final. Kalani held up its end with 1-0 wins over OIA West powers Pearl City and Mililani.
They went scoreless through 80 minutes of regulation in the championship rematch — though both cheering sections endured white-knuckle moments throughout.
Kaiser took 12 shots in regulation, one banging off the crossbar in the second half. Kalani took eight and had two corner kicks in the final minutes, but couldn’t break through.
Kaiser had a shot to end it about midway through overtime on Motoki Sato’s corner kick, but the ensuing shot sailed over the goal.
Kalani goalkeeper Sena Morimoto made six saves to preserve the shutout, including punching out a Kaiser free kick in the first overtime.
“I think it’s a coin flip. This was two evenly matched teams,” Kalani coach Mike Ching said. “They came out super hard and I thought we played a good maybe 70 minutes. You could tell they really wanted it. We were lucky we didn’t give up a goal at the end, but then that goal, man, it’s such a beautiful goal.
“We saw (Sigler) sprinting and he took it upon his shoulders and just got us the win. He crossed a beautiful ball.”
Naiki suffered a broken wrist in a win over Roosevelt on Jan. 13 and missed the regular-season meeting with Kaiser. He returned in time for the playoffs and delivered a golden moment for the Falcons.
“It feels brilliant and I’m grateful to be on this team and win the OIA,” said Naiki, who tumbled into the net after the score. “I just wanted to go on TV, but I was tangled in the net, but I was happy.”
