Mililani's Chris Galang advances the ball against Radford. Joshua Lopez | Special to SL

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MILILANI – A battle between two undefeated Oahu Interscholastic Association teams ended with a home team victory.

Mililani came away with a key Red West win over Radford Tuesday night, 4-1 at Mililani’s John Kauinana stadium. The Trojans (8-0 league play) claimed sole possession of first place in the division with the win. Radford’s record dropped to 7-1.

“It’s very big because it sets us up to come ahead in our division,” Mililani coach Jeff Yamamoto said on the win. “Good composure by our team. I was really happy with our overall outcome and performance.” 

The Trojans dominated the pitch, holding possession for most of the game with a strong offensive attack. Mililani’s forwards put a lot of pressure on the Rams’ defense, attempting at least 10 shot attempts at the goal per half. 

“Our mentality was to hold the ball, keep most of the possessions, work the ball up, find our forwards and just make (Radford) chase the ball,” said Mililani’s Marc Matas. “Our coaches wanted us to find our forwards more so we started doing that; that’s why we started attacking more.” 

Radford suffered a big blow in the 10th minute when starting goalkeeper Elvis Loez went down after colliding with his own teammate trying to make a save. Loez would not return and Rashon Osborne replaced him for the duration of the game.

“I feel really bad. It’s unfortunate losing a critical player like that early in the game,” said Yamamoto.

Mililani’s aggressiveness on offense paid off in the 19th minute when Matas found Anthony Menor for the first goal of the game. Matas dribbled the ball down near the left side of the penalty area drawing the Osborne’s attention, before passing it to Menor on the right side for an easy goal. 

“I just seen Anthony open right in the box so I just played it in and I trusted him to score,” Matas said retelling the Trojans’ first goal.

Matas scored the Trojans’ next goal, putting the home team up 2-0 in the 44th minute. The 5-foot-10 junior scored on a 40-yard high-arching shot that fooled nearly all those in attendance, including the goalkeeper. Matas’ shot curved in a way that made it appear it was going out of bounds, before dropping inside the left side of the goal.

“I purposely took the shot,” said Matas. “I thought I would get better contact on it when I hit it. I knew it was going on target but I thought the keeper would get it. It was lucky on my part. I’m happy to get the goal.” 

Matas continued his scoring ways in the 57th minute, this time with the help of Treyton Kong. After receiving Kong’s lob pass over a couple Radford defenders, Matas kicked in his second goal of the evening giving Mililani a 3-0 lead.

“It was a great (pass) by Treyton. I just seen the far post open and I hit it there,” said Matas.

Radford was able to get on the board in the 69th minute thanks to a Trojan foul within their own penalty area. Nicholas Wiggan was rewarded with the penalty kick, knocking it in the back left corner to give the Rams their only points of the game.

Mililani’s Jarad Choquette capped the match’s scoring two minutes later, heading in a ball off a corner kick in the 71st minute.

The Trojans can wrap up the Red West’s top seed in the upcoming 12-team OIA Red (Division I) Tournament with a win over Waialua Friday, Jan. 17. Radford’s chances at the second seed and first round bye are still good despite the loss. The Rams will need to come away with a victory over Kapolei (7-1) in their regular season finale to earn a first round bye in the playoffs.