Pearl City's Daelenn Tokunaga, who scored the game-winning goal, is greeted by teammates after the Chargers defeated Baldwin, 2-1. Michael Lasquero | SL

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Thu, Feb 2, 2017 @ Waipio

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Pearl City

2

Baldwin

1

Final	1st	2nd	OT	2OT	PK	Tot
Pearl City (11-5-1)	0	2	-	-	-	2
Baldwin (11-2-1)	1	0	-	-	-	1

S. Fontes (66')   D. Tokunaga (69')   S. Littlefield (26')

WAIPAHU — Pearl City isn't quite ready to give up its reign as state champion just yet.

The Chargers staged a stunning second-half comeback with a pair of goals in a three-minute span to rally past third-seeded Baldwin 2-1 in a Thursday night's quarterfinal round of the Queen's Medical Center/HHSAA Division I Girls Soccer State Championships.

A crowd of about 400 spectators at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium saw Pearl City overcome a 1-0 halftime deficit to improve to 11-3-1 and advance to Friday's semifinals, where it will face No. 2 Punahou.

The Maui Interscholastic League champion Bears saw their 11-game win streak snapped to fall to 11-1-1. They had allowed just three goals all season entering the game.

The game was a rematch of last year's state final, which the Chargers won by a score of 3-0.

"We just wanted to come out strong no matter what team it is," said Pearl City junior forward Daelenn Tokunaga, who scored the go-ahead goal on a breakaway in the 69th minute. "I think we just really wanted to win so we just kept pushing."

Tokunaga's goal came just three minutes after her teammate, Sunshine Fontes, netted the equalizer to finally get Pearl City on the scoreboard.

"At halftime we were all mad and we were just saying to keep pushing because once we score one, we'll get momentum," said Fontes, a sophomore midfielder.

The Chargers faced a 1-0 deficit at halftime after Skylar Littlefield put Baldwin ahead in the 26th minute.

Littlefield, who signed with Sacramento State Wednesday morning, was on the receiving end of a long pass and maneuvered her way through a trio of Pearl City defenders before unleashing a 15-yard shot past a diving Coryn Perreira and into the lower left corner of the goal.

Littlefield's goal turned the tide after it was the Chargers who largely dominated the first 20 minutes of the match.

"The first 10 minutes of the game, I think we had like seven shots on goal and they had one, and that one went in," Pearl City coach Frank Baumholtz III said. "We really got down when (Baldwin) scored. It was a good goal — it is what it is — but they got down on themselves and at halftime they were all moping."

Baumholtz did his best to rejuvenate his bunch at the intermission.

"I just said, ‘Hey, we've got a 40-minute game. We have to outscore them no matter what happens, so if we have to outscore them we have to get one and then we have to get another one, so let's keep doing what we've been doing and consistently try and get the ball up to Sunshine, Daelenn and Randi (Fontes),' " Baumholtz said.

Pearl City saw a number of chances go by early on in the second half. It had five corner kick opportunities in the first five minutes of the half, but never managed to get a quality shot off on any of them.

"It was definitely frustrating because we couldn't get one in," Tokunaga said. "We were kind of disappointed by that, but we knew we weren't out of it yet."

Sunshine Fontes ripped a pair of shots from distance in the 51st minute, but both sailed high and over the goal. About a minute later, she blasted a shot on goal from about 25 yards away that Baldwin goalkeeper Malie Kuia punched away with one hand.

"She's a good goalie," Fontes said. "Even last year we heard she was really good."

Kuia, a First Team All-Hawaii selection as a freshman last year, made nine saves in goal, including seven after halftime.

The Chargers finally broke through in the 66th minute. Sunshine Fontes got free on the right side of the 18-yard box and booted a driving shot from 15 yards out that found the left side of the net.

"Daelenn passed it down the line and the (defender) fell down," Fontes said. "I got the ball back and then I just bent it to the left post."

The Bears barely had enough time to catch their breath when the speedy Tokunaga gathered a misplayed ball by the Bears' defense and raced down field before taking advantage of a one-on-one chance against Kuia. Tokunaga dribbled to within bout six yards of the goal before cutting a left-footed shot past Kuia and into the right side of the goal.

"It was a goal kick that Sunshine kicked and the defender missed it and I was just there," said Tokunaga.

Both Fontes and Tokunaga have scored 19 goals this season.

"Pearl City just kept pounding it; (Fontes) and (Tokunaga) kept going and we just let it get away," Baldwin coach Tia Medeiros said. "The second goal was just a ball that went over that shouldn't have went over our heads and they capitalized, so that's sometimes how it goes so we've just got to take it."

Medeiros said her team was unable to keep the momentum after halftime.

"They were coming down our throats the whole end of the first half and that second half and we had to play better in that second half if we wanted to win that game and we didn't, so Pearl City came at us and we just couldn't hang in that second half," Medeiros said. "I mean, we had our chances, we did, but we didn't play as well as we should (have)."

Pearl City sophomore fullback Bree Fuller, a First Team All-Hawaii defender last year, saw her first action of the season after coming back from a knee injury. Fuller came off the bench in both halves to spell junior Brittny Ihara, who twice had to exit the game with a bloody nose.

"Brittny's nose is going to be sore tomorrow; she won't be smelling anything for a while," Baumholtz said. "Bree got the OK to play a week or so ago. She did a little in practice and it got to the point where we had so many people hurt that we just had to put her in there. If nothing else, for two, three minutes, so that helped."

Pearl City and Punahou, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu titlist, will meet in the 7 p.m. semifinal Friday in the main stadium. They will follow the first semifinal between top-seeded Mililani and Iolani at 5 p.m.

Baldwin will play Castle in a consolation game at 3 p.m. Friday on field No. 10.