Mililani players celebrate after a 1-0 win over Kalani in the Division I title game. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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030115_MiK_7735.jpg - Greg Yamamoto | SL

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First-year Mililani boys' soccer coach Steve McGehee knew coming into the year that he had a senior-heavy team, which he took full advantage of.

The Trojans' depth — 14 of their 28 players are twelfth-graders — was on display all season long and especially in Saturday night's 1-0 win over Kalani in the Division I state championship match.

McGehee said he went "17 or 18" players deep against the Falcons, utilizing numerous substitutions to get his players rest and keeping their legs fresh.

"I feel it's given us a definite advantage this year," McGehee said. "Unfortunately, (forward) Kala (Judd) kind of came up lame with a hamstring (Friday) night, so we platooned the front end just like we do the outside halves and got away with it today."

One of those seniors, MJ Matas, said the substitutions help especially in tournament situations where teams are playing multiple games in a matter of days.

"It gets our forwards and our outside mids more energy to work with, so we could keep on working hard 100 percent all the time," Matas said.

Jarad Choquette, who scored the lone goal against Kalani Saturday, concurred with Matas.

"It gives us a chance to rest and get water and then get back into the game and work hard," said Choquette, another senior.

One player who did not get much time to rest was senior fullback Jeron Cunningham, who was selected as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

"We had a good substitution pattern going on, so we got a lot of rest and we got a lot of guys in the game, so next season they should be able to win it again," Cunningham said. "I have full confidence in this team."

The team has a long-standing tradition of the players bleaching their hair blonde prior to the start of the postseason, mostly as a symbol of solidarity.

"Everybody counts on this team," said junior Isaiah Manding. "Everybody."

Kalani coach Michael Ching said he didn't think fatigue was a factor for his team — which played four state-tournament games to Mililani's three.

"I thought we were matching them one for one. I thought we were making enough substitutions and I thought we played a pretty good first half," said Ching, who led the Falcons to the 2012 state final — where they lost to Mililani, 3-0 — before winning it all in 2013. "It seemed like we were kind of getting on the goal. They were fresh, yes, but we didn't cramp up either, so I thought we were pretty fresh and we used a bunch of guys, but they found a way because it's Mililani."

The Trojans captured their sixth state championship in program history — the first since 2012 — and the first for McGehee, who was an assistant on all five previous state-title winning squads.

"It was an incredible run for these guys and this team," McGehee said. "I've always said I'm the caretaker for their dreams and the ambitions of this high school and it's just another great feeling that I've had here."

Mililani's win was just a little more special for one individual of the 1,300 or so fans at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex: former Trojans' coach Jeff Yamamoto, who McGehee was a longtime assistant to prior to taking over the reins this year.

"I'm really proud of him," Yamamoto said of McGehee. "He did a fantastic job of putting this team together. This was all Steve. From the start to the end he had a vision of where he wanted to go and he took and I'm so proud of him."