Pearl City's Nikki Suwa battles a Waianae player for possession. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Waianae's Kayla Kauwe dribbles the ball up the field against Pearl City. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Pearl City's Randi Fontes gets set to strike the ball against Waianae. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Tue, Jan 14, 2014 @ Waianae

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Pearl City

7

Waianae

1

Final	1st	2nd	OT	2OT	PK	Tot
Pearl City (10-6-0)	0	0	-	-	-	7
Waianae (4-7-0)	0	0	-	-	-	1

C. Fabro (2)   T. Inong (2)   R. Fontes (2)   K. Kawamata    S. Inafuku

WAIANAE — A trio of players scored twice to lead Pearl City to a 7-1 win over Waianae in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Western Division finale for both teams Tuesday night.

A crowd of about 200 at Raymond Torii Field saw the visiting Chargers rally from an early deficit to improve to 6-4, while the host Seariders fell to 4-6.

"It was a good win for us going into the playoffs," Pearl City coach Frank Baumholtz III said. "I think we've grown up a little bit, where in the past we may have hung our heads after we gave up the early goal, but the girls responded well and came out and fought after that."

Both teams had already clinched a spot in the upcoming 12-team OIA Red (Division I) Tournament. With the win, Pearl City claimed the Red West's fifth seed, while Waianae will be the No. 6 seed.

"We just had to fight through this one," said Chargers' senior forward Tasha Inong, who scored a goal in each half Tuesday. "We stuck together and kept pushing until the end."

Freshman halfback Randi Fontes and sophomore forward Cailla Fabro also scored twice — both in the first half — and sophomore halfback Kelsey Kawamata added a late goal in the closing minutes.

"A lot of the players we have on the field are young — freshmen and sophomores — and we've had our share of mistakes earlier this season that cost us some games, but they did a good job of playing with their heads on straight tonight," Baumholtz III said.

Almost as impressive as the Chargers' offensive firepower Tuesday was their stellar defensive effort against the OIA's leading goal scorer, Sonest Furtado, who entered the game with 23 goals scored.

"We tried to keep track of where she was on the field at all times," Inong said. "She's a dangerous scorer and our defense did a really good job not allowing her to get the ball."

Waianae scored its only goal early when Sarah Inafuku dribbled a shot from near the end line past the Pearl City goalkeeper in the third minute.

"Our warm-up was horrible — I made them run sprints right before the game because they just weren't ready to play," Baumholtz III said. "Their passing in pre game was off the mark, they just weren't sharp, but after that first goal they finally woke up and they played well after that."

Not long after the Seariders scored, Fontes evened the match in the sixth minute when she split a pair of defenders and softly touched a ball past a charging Waianae goalie. Four minutes later, Fontes scored her 10th goal of the season on a one-timer when a teammate sent a cross from the left side of the field to her near the back post.

A Pearl City corner kick in the 30th minute led to Inong's first goal, which came on a header and just seven minutes later, she assisted on a goal by Fabro, who beat the goalie with her shot to the right bottom corner of the netting. One minute later, the same duo connected on the Chargers' fifth goal of the first half.

Just minutes into the second half, Inong collected a loose ball in the box and put it away for her 16th goal of the year to give her team a 6-1 lead. Kawamata added an insurance goal in the 76th minute.

It was the most goals allowed in a game this season by Waianae, which has lost its last three contests.