Kapolei knocks off top-seeded Kalani, 3-1

Kapolei's Sam Wren celebrates after a goal scored in the 66th minute against Kalani. CJ Caraang | SL

WAIPAHU—Shandon Hopeau scored two goals to catapult Kapolei over top-seeded Kalani, 3-1 in The Queen's Medical Center/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Boys State Soccer Championships semifinals at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium on Friday night.

The Hurricanes make their first-ever state title appearance and will play Interscholastic League of Honolulu and second-seeded Punahou for the Division I crown at 7 pm. The Falcons will play Kamehameha-Maui at 3 pm for third place.

"It's been 15 years in the making since the school's inception and we have been a perennial participant here. This is our fourth state semifinal and finally broke through, I think it's great for the high school and the community," said Kapolei coach Ryan Lau.

"When I woke up this morning, I had a winning mindset in my head because the last three times we've been losing. It's my senior so I'm glad we came out with the win. I'd like to thank all my teammates," said Hopeau.

The Falcons won on Feb. 11, 1-0 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association playoffs. Coming into tonight, the Hurricanes were 0-4 in the semis and lost to the Falcons in the 2012 semis. This time, it was Kapolei's opportunity to break through and they also snapped Kalani's 14-game winning streak.

Kalani and Kapolei each had seven shot attempts on goal and had their opportunities to score in the first half. Madison Casey had a shot just outside the inner goal box, but it hit the top post. Hopeau's free kick was blocked by Brandon Kim. Kalani had 13 shot attempts, while Kapolei had 14 attempts for the game.

"Our game plan was to be assertive and you want to play to win and not to lose. Hats off to Kalani and we respect everything they do there. We thought we had to get after them because if you let them get ahead, they do a great job getting numbers behind the ball. We wanted to attack, be aggressive and push the pace," said Lau.

Hopeau scored his first goal off a deflection to end a scoreless stalemate at the 45th minute mark.

"The ball definitely went in my favor and it landed where I could finish it off," said Hopeau, who scored his 33rd goal of the season.

"Shandon is very clinical, and that's what you expect if you want to be a big time player, you have to perform in big games. He's clutch and has been in this tournament and hope he has another one under his belt tomorrow," said Lau, on Hopeau.

In the 53rd minute, Beau Meyer passed it to Hopeau and he did the rest as he shook his defender and placed a shot into the right corner.

"1-0 is not a big lead for this Kalani team because they are really good. So after I scored the second goal it gave us a cushion," said Hopeau.

After gaining a two point cushion, Kapolei's defense stepped up and made it difficult for the Falcons to get good looks at the goal. Goalkeeper Makana Breault had six saves for the game.

"I think our defense was a little bit relaxed because we had a one goal lead so we had to hold it down," said Hopeau.

Sam Wren scored Kapolei's third goal at the 66th minute off of Kim's deflection to put the game away.

Toshihiro Kosins added a goal for Kalani late in the 74th minute and the Falcons almost came up with another goal to make the game interesting, but fell short.

"Because of our yellow card situation and we subbed out some guys and we wanted to give other guys minutes because it's been a grind and we've been doing this since Wednesday. They had a great goal at the end and put pressure on us," said Lau.

Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].