Kamehameha-Hawaii ascended back to the top of state Division II boys soccer Saturday, and the Warriors broke through with the help of an unlikely goal scorer.

Kingston Akuna scored off an assist from William Henderson at 58:28 as No. 1 seed Kamehameha-Hawaii beat No. 2 seed Kapaa 1-0 in the Division II final of the Motiv8 Foundation/HHSAA tournament at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.

Kamehameha-Hawaii (14-0-0) was appearing in its fourth consecutive state title game. The Big Island school won the crown in 2022 and 2023, and lost to Island School in the 2024 final.

“This is a special team. Last year we lost 1-0 (in the state final),” Kamehameha-Hawaii coach Greg Minato said. “This year, the beginning of the season they were ready to come back and win the title and they deserve it.” Akuna, normally a center back, played his first game primarily at forward this season and came through with the first goal of his four-year varsity career.

“I was praying about that,” Akuna said. “It came down to the team. I couldn’t do it without them.”

Minato said he wanted the burly Akuna to play up top Saturday against a bigger Kapaa squad.

“This last game of the season, we pushed him up to attack because of Kapaa, they’re a physical team, so we had to put someone up there to match them,” Minato said.

Iopa Quintana passed the ball to Henderson, who sent a through ball past a couple of Kapaa defenders to a charging Akuna right in front of the goal line.

“The ball came back out to me and we knew Kingston has been working on it in practice to get behind the lines and he was wide open,” Henderson said. “Once I played that ball in between (the defenders) after Gab (Gabriel Arquitola) created that beautiful run to drag out that center back, I knew he was going to finish it.”

Seven Kamehameha-Hawaii players, including Akuna and Henderson, played in four state title games.

“Last year was devastating,” Kamehameha-Hawaii goalkeeper Jacob Aiona said. “We played a very good Island School side and we really thought we could go for four, but we came out this year with a chip on our shoulder ready to fight.”

Play was rather mundane through the first 20-plus minutes before things picked up in a battle of teams with Warriors as their mascot.

Kapaa (13-1-1) nearly broke through in the 25th when the ball bounced to Curren Pope on the right side about 12 yards out and his shot went wide left.

Kamehameha-Hawaii got close twice in the 32nd. Henderson’s corner kick from the right side was brushed away by Kapaa goalkeeper Tyler Thornton near the crossbar. The ball wound up right back into danger with Caleh Carvalho sending a shot from in close wide right.

In the 36th, Kapaa’s Bear Miller got to the ball about 5 yards out but couldn’t get a clean strike on it in traffic and his high- arching shot was easily saved by Aiona.

One minute later, Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Henderson sent in a free kick from 30 yards off the left side that went past a couple of teammates right in front of the goal line.

In the 39th, Henderson turned with the ball and sent a shot from 25 yards just wide right.

Four minutes into the second half, Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Arquitola controlled the ball near the top of the penalty box and blasted a shot off the crossbar.

One minute later, Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Quintana headed a free kick from Henderson over the crossbar.

In the 49th, Kapaa’s Isaiah Noguchi flicked Kamalei Dasalia-Mundon’s throw-in toward goal, which forced Aiona to leap and punch the ball over the crossbar.

Kapaa’s last two scoring opportunities came in the 75th when Nalu Geer had back-to-back shots from in close that were blocked by Aiona.

Kapaa won state titles in 2009, 2013 and 2019. The KIF school’s only blemish prior to Saturday was a 2-2 tie against Waimea on Jan. 4.

“We had a great group of kids,” Kapaa coach Kevin Cram said. “We have younger ones for next year who we expect to do the same thing. They worked hard, they fought hard and Kamehameha was just a little bit better and got the goal.”

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DIVISION II

Thursday

Quarterfinals

No. 1 Kamehameha-Hawaii 2, Kalaheo 0

No. 4 Seabury Hall 2,

No. 5 Kahuku 1

No. 2 Kapaa 3, Waipahu 1

No. 3 Le Jardin 2, HPA 1

Friday

Fifth-place semifinals

Kalaheo 3, Kahuku 2 (PK 4-3)

Hawaii Prep 6, Waipahu 0

Semifinals

Kapaa 2, Le Jardin 1 (PK 8-7)

Kamehameha-Hawaii 1, Seabury Hall 0, OT

Saturday

Fifth Place

Kalaheo 1, Hawaii Prep 1, tie

Third Place

Le Jardin 2, Seabury Hall 2, tie

Championship

Kamehameha-Hawaii 1, Kapaa 0