It was a great or not-so-great compromise, depending on one’s perspective.

For one Hawaii Preparatory Academy soccer player, it came close to a geo-political lesson in statesmanship.

“We just came up with a way to find world peace,” he shouted within earshot of his Ka Makani teammates and their foes from Baldwin.

Just a bit earlier Saturday night at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium, Hawaii Prep and Baldwin were locked in an intense tactical chess match with quite a bit of prestige riding on the outcome. Whoever survived the Division I final of The Queen’s Medical Center/HHSAA Boys Soccer State Championships would become the first from the Neighbor Islands to do so in the 45 years of the event.

Of course both teams wanted it badly, and they both achieved it in a stunningly surprising way. That’s the nice part, the fact that both teams can call themselves D-I champions. However, the Bears and Ka Makani did something that every mom tells their offspring to do when playing with their friends — share. Yes, due to lightning strikes that were observed in the Central Oahu area (not at the complex), the game was called off with a 0-0 score and 2:21 left on the unofficial clock in the first overtime.

There were other possible alternatives, such as resuming the match at 7 a.m. Sunday. But with one team, Hawaii Prep, staying a hotel and the other, Baldwin, sleeping in a school gym, that wasn’t quite fair. The Bears were supposed to fly home late Saturday, so they no longer had hotel accommodations.

In the end, coaches Kane Palazzotto of MIL champ and fourth-seeded Baldwin (10-1-2) and Richard Braithwaite of BIIF champ and third-seeded Hawaii Prep (14-0-1) agreed to the co-championship idea.

“We feel like champions and I hope these guys (the Bears) feel like champions,” said Braithwaite, whose team won D-II state championships the two previous seasons. “Hopefully, the boys can feel good about what they accomplished. We’re Division I champs. Undefeated.”

Hawaii Prep’s players appeared to come to a grips with the decision a bit easier than the Baldwin boys, most of whom had tears in their eyes.

“Part of me feels that with that decision, I let my boys down,” Palazzotto said. “They look really disappointed. The big shame is you don’t get to see how that great game would have ended.”

And what a contest it was, so dramatic and setting up for a fantastic finish. With both defenses shining and both teams playing a tight possession game, there were only a few real scoring chances. It appeared that any minute, the Bears’ Angelo Deloso-Flocco or Ka Makani’s Jake Schneider would somehow break through with their lightning fast skills to win it.

Instead, lightning started to light up the sky well after most of the fans left the stadium.

“It’s truly one of the most amazing, weirdest things that’s ever happened in my soccer career,” Schneider said. “I think we’re emotionless because it really hasn’t settled in. It’s just a weird conclusion to this whole season. You’re neither happy nor sad.”

A red-eyed Deloso-Flocco gave his thoughts, too.

“We wanted to be the first outer-island team to take it, but co-champs is what we got. It was not the result we wanted, but still a pretty good accomplishment. Definitely not what we wanted, but it was a good game, I guess, overall.”