Kamehameha girls soccer coach Missy Moore has been waiting all season for Madison Sharrer to dominate games.
It’s getting rather late, but it’s finally starting to happen.
Sharrer scored the go-ahead goal at 65:50 off an assist from Kaahupahau Montgomery as Kamehameha beat No. 2 seed Campbell 3-2 in the semifinals of the Motiv8 Foundation/HHSAA Girls Division I State Championships on Friday at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex’s main stadium.
Sharrer finished with two goals and an assist for the Warriors, who took a 2-0 lead inside the first 13 minutes.
“She took over the game, and we’ve been waiting for her to do that the whole year because she’s capable of doing it,” Moore said. “We’d like to see more of that out of her.”
Kamehameha will face Punahou for the title today at 7 p.m. at Waipio.
The Warriors are making their fifth consecutive state tournament finals appearance. They won crowns in 2019, 2020 and 2022. There was no soccer season in 2021 because of COVID-19, and Punahou won the title last season. Kamehameha has won 11 state championships overall, including five under Moore.
“I guess we’re doing pretty good,” Moore said “Year-to-year it’s different, different players coming through, different players leaving. The fact that we’ve been able to maintain and get back to the final again is fantastic.”
On the go-ahead goal, Campbell cleared the ball and Montgomery controlled it on the right side and sent a pass over the defense to Sharrer, who one-timed a shot into the goal on the full run.
“We were actually looking for that, taking it down the line and playing an early ball in a cross and (Montgomery) played a perfect ball right at my feet and I hit it in right past the keeper,” Sharrer said.
In Thursday’s quarterfinal against Kamehameha-Maui, Sharrer had the assist off a corner kick on Ionare Ve’e’s golden goal.
“She’s in the right mindset for sure for the state tournament,” Moore said. “She’s been here before, so she knows what to expect and she’s hungry for it.”
Kamehameha took a 1-0 lead at 10:23 on Sharrer’s goal off a failed clearance by a Campbell defender. Shelby Aoki controlled the ball and passed to Montgomery, who advanced down the left side and crossed the ball into the penalty box. The Sabers player attempted to clear and the ball wound up with Sharrer, who buried a shot from in close.
“The ball came in and I saw the defender hit it right off of her leg and I was just there and one-timed it in right past, low on the keeper,” Sharrer said.
The Warriors went up 2-0 at 12:40 on Mya Pasion’s goal off an assist from Sharrer, who fought through traffic on the left side and fed a wide-open Pasion running down the middle of the field. Pasion’s shot from 6 yards went to the right side of the goal.
“That was another part of our game plan, getting the ball down the line and beating our defender,” Sharrer said. “I was able to get past one more and we were looking for those slot balls and I heard Mya and I played it right to her feet and she had a beautiful finish.”
Kamehameha (11-2-0) looked to be in good shape at that point, but Campbell battled back to tie it.
“We had a game plan and we stuck to the game plan the first 25 minutes and then we just had a lapse in thinking and we went back to playing the way that wouldn’t make us successful in this game,” Moore said.
Campbell (12-1-2) cut its deficit to 2-1 at 23:46 on a goal by Miyah Suster, who controlled a throw-in by Aliana Ganigan Hale from the left side, spun past a defender along the top of the box and shot over the goalkeeper.
The Sabers nearly struck again in the 28th when Ava Rose Whitmer crossed to Suster, whose shot went just wide left.
The Warriors nearly scored in the 36th when Avalee McGuire dribbled down the middle and slotted a pass to Sharrer, whose shot from in close was deflected over the crossbar.
Kamehameha had nine shots on goal in the first half, while Campbell had two.
The Sabers tied it at 2 at 58:29 on Whitmer’s goal off a free kick from Jaylee Curran, who was 65 yards away from goal. Whitmer controlled the ball on a high bounce, spun past a defender and fired a left-footed shot into the right side of the goal.
“Tremendous heart,” Campbell coach James Curran said of his team. “Super proud. I can’t ask for anything else. We worked hard all season and sometimes it doesn’t go your way.”
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Semifinals
Kamehameha 3, Campbell 2
Goal-Scorers—KS: Madison Sharrer 2, Mya Pasion. Camp: Ava Rose Whitmer,
Punahou 4, Mililani 0
Goal-Scorers—Pun: Anuhea Ilae, Nicole Beauchemin, Emily Daehler, Xehlia Salanoa.
5th-Place Semifinals
Kamehameha-Maui 1, Waiakea 0
Goal-Scorers—KSM: Krychalei Loui.
Baldwin 2, Hilo 1
Goal-Scorers—Bald: Sammi Kinoshita, Tamilyn Ebisu. Hilo: Aneala Sibayan.
