Kailua did not find many scoring opportunities in the first half Saturday against Waialua.
It didn’t take long for the Surfriders to get on the scoreboard after halftime thanks to Kamalei Leong’s powerful right leg.
Leong booted in a 69-yard shot right off the second-half kickoff as Kailua beat Waialua 1-0 in the final of the OIA girls Division II soccer tournament at Kaiser. “Our coach told us to test the keeper and I knew we had to get a goal immediately,” Leong said. “The first half was kind of hard for us. I just asked my forward if I could just boot it and hope it would go in.”
Leong took a pass from Bryn Abe and blasted a shot that bounced in front of Bulldogs goalkeeper Ariana Price about 25 yards out and into the goal at 40:10. The score came with the wind at Kailua’s back.
“We’ve done that a couple times this season, but this was the best time because of the wind,” Kailua coach Malu Afong said. “It really paid off and we’re really grateful for that.”
Kailua has won five OIA D-II titles, with the others coming in 2009, 2010, 2018 and 2023.
Afong was a co-coach in 2010 and the head coach for the past three championships.
Kailua (5-6), Waialua (5-7), Radford and Roosevelt will represent the OIA at the Motiv8 Foundation/HHSAA Division II tournament, which starts Jan. 29. Aiea, the OIA’s No. 5 team, will play at Molokai on Saturday for the 12th and final state tournament berth.
“After winning the title we’re going to go into states motivated and I think we’re going to do really well,” Leong said.
Kailua, the East’s No. 1 team, had three shots on goal, while Waialua, the West’s No. 1 team, had six.
In the seventh minute, Waialua’s Adelynn Boling lobbed a shot toward goal off a corner kick but was denied by Kailua backup goalkeeper Gloria Maya-Gallardo, who leaped and caught the ball.
Maya-Gallardo was tested quickly after her cousin, Isabella Gallardo-Teixeira, was shaken up in the fifth minute after colliding with a Bulldogs player on a sliding save. Gallardo-Teixeira returned in goal for Kailua about five minutes later.
The Bulldogs got close again in the 10th when Jadyn Miller’s corner kick dropped just in front of the goal line, and bounced around for a while before being cleared by the Surfriders.
“The girls played well. We definitely weren’t prepared for the wind. My girls, I’m super proud of them. I couldn’t ask for more. I asked for 150% out there tonight and they did,” Waialua coach Moana Bjur said.
“The first half for sure (we played well), and we held our own in the second half defensively.”
After Leong’s goal, Kailua nearly scored again from long distance in the 43rd when Delainey Marrotte blasted a 65-yard shot that was spilled by Price and trickled just wide right of the goal.
