Iolani's Keoni Simon is lifted up by a teammate after a goal scored in the second half against Mid-Pacific. Brien Ing | SL

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Sat, Feb 7, 2015 @ Mid-Pacific

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Iolani

2

Mid-Pacific

0

Final	1st	2nd	OT	2OT	PK	Tot
Iolani (10-3-2)	1	1	-	-	-	2
Mid-Pacific (11-2-2)	0	0	-	-	-	0

M. Ching    K. Simon

MANOA — Max Ching has been eager to serve some payback for the past three weeks.

Ching and Keoni Simon each scored a goal Saturday morning to carry Iolani to a 2-0 win over host Mid-Pacific in the penultimate game of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu season for both teams.

The Raiders, the reigning Division I state champion and top-ranked team in the ScoringLive/OC16 Boys Soccer Power Rankings, avenged a 1-0 loss to the second-ranked Owls back on Jan. 14, to improve to 9-1-1 and locked up their second consecutive league title and 14th overall in the process.

Mid-Pacific, the reigning Division II state titlist, fell to 7-2-2 with the loss.

"That was the first time we lost and it ended our winning streak and that was an emotional game," Ching said of the first meeting against Mid-Pacific. "A lot of us were angry and we wanted redemption, so it feels good to finally prove ourselves."

Iolani punched its ticket to the 12-team Division I state tournament, which gets underway Friday, and will receive a first-round bye.

"That's always nice to play that one less game," Raiders' coach Chris Lee said. "Today, I was really proud of the way the guys coming off the bench stepped up. I thought it was a real team effort today. Some guys had to come in because of injuries and they did the job that they needed to."

Ching got the scoring started early on a set piece. A Mid-Pacific foul gave the Raiders a free kick from about 35 yards out on the right flank, which Spencer Ho sent into the six-yard box. Ching was on the other end of it and headed the ball past the outstretched arms of Owls' goalkeeper Brad Yamashita and just inside of the right post.

"I was actually lined up on the right side and my coach told me to go to the left side, so I went on the left side, Spencer played a great ball and I just somehow put my head on it," Ching said of his first goal this season. "I've been waiting for my first goal all season — I had a lot more last year — but it feels good that I finally got one and to help the team clinch the first seed and the ILH."

Yamashita made up for it about 12 minutes later when he stuffed a one-on-one attempt by Ho to keep it a one-score game.

The Owls controlled much of the first-half possession and had a number of scoring chances, but couldn't capitalize.

"It is what it is," Mid-Pacific coach Jayson Abe said. "Despite the result, I thought the boys really hung in there and outplayed (Iolani) and I thought we had the fair amount of possession and the better of the play, (but) it was just a couple of unlucky bounces and that's just the nature of the game sometimes."

The score held until the 62nd minute when Iolani jumped on a miscue by the Owls. Yamashita misplayed a ball in front of the goal and Iolani's Keoni Simon was there to put away the rebound.

"I just got off the bench and it was just kind of a stroke of luck, I guess," Simon said of his fifth goal this year. "The keeper slipped up a little bit and I managed to poke it in and I'm just glad that we were able to put that away."

Lee said he was concerned about a mental lapse by his squad after Ching's early goal.

"It can work both ways, right?," Lee said. "It's nice to get up early and then at the same time if you score so early you don't want to take the foot off the pedal. The goal was so early and then Mid-Pac came out and you know that they're not going to sit back and they're just going to keep coming at you."

It was just the eighth and ninth goals allowed by Mid-Pacific this season.

"I think it caught us a little off guard, but we were looking at it and thinking that maybe this is the best thing for us," Abe said. "We got punched in the face and we've just got to keep at it, but a credit to our boys on our end, I thought they never gave up despite going down 1-0 early on. I thought we played well, but it was just unfortunate that we couldn't find the back of the net and Iolani did."

Danny Leong made eight saves in goal for the Raiders, while Yamashita had four stops for Mid-Pacific.

The Owls, who will represent the ILH in the D2 state tournament two weeks from now, conclude the regular season at Saint Louis Wednesday.

The Raiders will visit Kamehameha Wednesday before starting their quest for a second straight D1 state title.