Punahou players celebrate after a goal scored in the first half against Kapolei. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Sat, Feb 27, 2016 @ Waipio

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Punahou

2

Kapolei

0

Final	1st	2nd	OT	2OT	PK	Tot
Punahou (12-0-3)	0	2	-	-	-	2
Kapolei (12-4-1)	0	0	-	-	-	0

K. Halvorsen (53')   H. DeTurk (77')

WAIPAHU — Add another one to the collection.

Kalen Halvorsen and Hunter DeTurk each scored a goal and Tyler Ohata turned in another solid game in between the posts to lead Punahou to its record 19th state title with a 2-0 win over Kapolei in the finals of The Queen's Medical Center/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Boys Soccer State Championships Saturday night.

A crowd of about 700 at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium saw the second-seeded and Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion Buffanblu complete an undefeated season at 12-0-3.

"It feels great," said Halvorsen, whose score came in the 53rd minute to break a scoreless tie. "We've been wanting this all year long."

Punahou overcame three straight seasons of heartbreak to avoid the longest state-championship drought in school history. Punahou has never gone five years without claiming a title. Only twice — from 1978 to 1981 and from 2012 to 2015 — has it failed to win states. during a four-year stretch.

"It's about them," Buffanblu coach David Trifonovitch said while pointing to his players. "I'm so proud of them; they worked so hard for it. This is a group that really needed to get over that hump and they've had a taste of it, (but) they just haven't been there. So for them to do it, it feels really good — I feel really good for them."

After back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2013 and 2014, Punahou lost in the semifinal round last year.

"This feels great. Being on the team when we lost in the final and last year in the semis, that was tough," said Ohata, who was named most outstanding player of the tournament. "We wanted to come back this year, work hard and this was our goal: be undefeated, win ILH and win states. We did all those three things."

The Buffanblu held most of the possession in the first half, but failed to capitalize on numerous free kicks.

A few minutes into the second half, Punahou's Reo Nagai made a run down the left flank and one-timed a shot on frame but off the left post. Kapolei countered the attack quickly and got the ball to its superstar, Shandon Hopeau.

Hopeau, who has a state-high 33 goals scored on the season, had a one-on-one chance against Ohata, but shot missed just wide right of the goal.

"He was awesome; he was absolutely awesome," Trifonovitch said of Ohata, a 6-foot senior.

About 10 minutes later, Halvorsen split a pair of Kapolei defenders and got his head on the ball just before goalkeeper Makana Breault.

"I saw a loose ball go out, I didn't think it was going to reach the goalie in time, I worked my butt off — I ran as hard as I could — and it ended up working out for me," said Halvorsen, a senior midfielder/forward.

It was Halvorsen's third goal of the year and his second of the state tournament.

Trifonovitch chucked to himself when recalling the play.

"Funny goal," he said. "It's just a funny ball comes across and the keeper just didn't expect Kalen to come in. Kalen slides in and it was unbelievable."

Kapolei had a chance to tie it in the 65th minute on a set piece. Lyric DeLeon's indirect free kick from about 40 yards out sailed into the goalie box and teammate Sam Wren got a head on it, but Buffanblu defender Kyle King made a goal-saving header to deflect it.

DeTurk's goal in the 77th minute sealed the win. It was his second goal of the tournament and sixth of the season.

Hopeau, who plans to turn professional after high school, was kept scoreless for just the fifth game this season. He scored five goals in his team's three previous state-tournament games this week. Hopeau started the game at forward, but moved to the midfield to start the second half.

"We just wanted to get him more involved," Kapolei co-head coach Ryan Lau said. "Punahou did a good job on him. I think what they did was anytime we won the ball they quickly got on his hip because they just didn't want him to receive the early ball because once he receives the early ball obviously we can start a transition and a counterattack."

Ohata said the Buffanblu were always cognizant of Hopeau's whereabouts throughout the night.

"We were very cautious of him," Ohata said. "We know what a good player he is — he's scored 30-something goals this year — but our defense is strong. We weren't man-marking him or anything. We were real confident in our defense. Our defense played big today. We shut him down; He didn't have anything on us tonight."

Kapolei, which was unseeded and playing its fourth game in as many days in the 12-team tournament, finished the season with a 12-4-1 record and reached the state final for the first time in program history. It was just the second time it was shutout this year.

"I thought it was up and down and it just took that one opportunity," Lau said. "Unfortunately, I thought it was a (defensive) breakdown when (the Buffanblu) scored both times, but credit to them for being in the right place at the right time and they took advantage of it."

Punahou improved to 19-9 in title games and 85-17 all-time in state-tournament games. It was the third state championship under Trifonovitch.

ScoringLive reporter Stacy Kaneshiro contributed to this report.

The Queen's Medical Center/HHSAA Boys Soccer State Championships
At Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex

Division I Tournament
Wednesday
First round
Game 1 — Baldwin 2, Mililani 1
G2 — Kapolei 2, Mid-Pacific 0
G3 — Radford 5, Hilo 1
G4 — Moanalua 5, Kaiser 3
Thursday
Consolation semifinals
G5 — Mid-Pacific 3, Mililani 2
G6 — Moanalua 3, Hilo 2
Quarterfinals
G7 — No. 3 Kamehameha-Maui 4, Kaiser 2
G8 — Kapolei 2, No. 4 Kealakehe 1 (OT)
G9 — No. 2 Punahou 4, Radford 2
G10 — No. 1 Kalani 1, Baldwin 0
Friday
Consolation final
G15 — Mid-Pacific 2, Hilo 0
Fifth-place semifinals
G11 — Kealakehe 4, Baldwin 1
G12 — Kaiser 3, Radford 2
Championship semifinals
G13 — Punahou 2, Kamehameha-Maui 0
G14 — Kapolei 2, Kalani 0
Saturday
Fifth-place final
G16 — Kealakehe 1, Kaiser 1
Third-place final
G17 — Kamehameha-Maui 1, Kalani 0
Championship final
G18 — Punahou 2, Kapolei 0