Kapolei edges Mililani in OIA girls soccer, 1-0


Kapolei players celebrate a 1-0 win over against Mililani. Sylvia Lee | SL

KAPOLEI — Alexis Repolio scored off a penalty kick in the first half to carry Kapolei to a 1-0 win over Mililani in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Western Division game Mililani Friday night.

The Hurricanes improved to 5-0 and knocked the Trojans from the ranks of the unbeatens to 4-1.

"This was a big win for us because our coach told us how Mililani hasn't lost a regular-season game in a really long time," Repolio said. "We really wanted this win badly and we've been working really hard in practice to get ready for this game."

Repolio scored in the 27th minute on a penalty kick after her teammate, Alyssa Yoshida, drew a foul against a Mililani defender in the 18-yard box. Yoshida and the defender chased the ball and were near the end line when both players went down. Repolio booted a right-footed shot to the right side of the Mililani goalkeeper Tasalina Leoso and into the net.

"I think it really helped that I looked left (before my shot)," said Repolio, a sophomore. "My teammates were telling me after that (Leoso) went left before I even kicked the ball."

Mililani had several scoring chances in the first half that it failed to convert on, including back-to-back corner kicks in the 18th minute. Kapolei tightened up its defense the rest of the way and kept the Trojan scoring trio of Kailana Keao, Tia Furuta and Cassandra Stetser largely at bay.

"We watched them play Tuesday (against Pearl City) and we saw that their forwards aren't the most creative, so we tried to bunch our middlefielders and keep them from getting the ball," Repolio said.

Hurricanes' coach Brian Beck said that was the key.

"They have those three great forwards and we saw something that we felt could help negate their impact on the game and the girls did an excellent job of executing the gameplan," Beck said.

The Trojans had two more scoring chances in a four-minute span about midway through the second half. In the 61st minute, a long pass was sent to Furuta, who flicked it with her head to an open teammate along the left sideline, but she was whistled for being offsides. Furuta took matters into her own hands in the 65th minute when she fired a shot with her right foot from 30 yards out, but it was just wide right of the goal.

"Our girls were ready to play (Tuesday) night when we scouted Mililani," Beck said. "They were really excited, they felt they could play with them and we had two excellent days of practice leading up to this game."

Mililani had outscored the opposition, 24-0, entering the game. Kapolei had yet to allow a goal this year and has netted 19 goals of its own.

The Hurricanes host unbeaten-Campbell, while the Trojans host Waipahu next Friday.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].