Lauren Mukaigawa hugs True Dydasco after Jamie-Lyn Shimamoto's goal in the 29th minute gave Punahou a 2-0 lead over Pearl City. Michael Lasquero | SL

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Fri, Feb 3, 2017 @ Waipio

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Pearl City

0

Punahou

3

Final	1st	2nd	OT	2OT	PK	Tot
Pearl City (11-5-1)	0	0	-	-	-	0
Punahou (12-2-1)	2	1	-	-	-	3

L. Mukaigawa (79')   J. Shimamoto (29')   T. Dydasco (20')

WAIPAHU — No school has won more girls state soccer titles than Punahou.

The Buffanblu will get a chance to add another trophy to their collection Saturday night.

Lauren Mukaigawa scored a goal and assisted on another as second-seeded Punahou posted a convincing 3-0 semifinal win over defending champion Pearl City at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium Friday night.

The Buffanblu improved to 12-1-1 on the season and advanced to Saturday's title game of the Queen's Medical Center/HHSAA Division I Girls Soccer State Championships, where they will play Interscholastic League of Honolulu-foe Iolani.

"It feels amazing. I just can't express how happy I am for the team and especially the seniors because we're really playing for them," Mukaigawa said.

It was, by all accounts, a team victory. Not only did three different players score goals, but two goalkeepers — behind a stellar effort from the back line — combined to shut out a prolific Pearl City team that featured a trio of opportunistic goal scorers in Daelenn Tokunaga, Sunshine Fontes and Randi Fontes, who have combined to score 55 this season.

"I think we know that Sunshine and Daelenn and Randi, they're all so good, but we just had to mark tight and play our game on the ground and my two other center-mids did amazing balancing and covering and playing defense," said Punahou senior True Dydasco, who scored the first goal of the game.
"Communication was the key to this game to this game, because they make runs so we had to mark every time they went."

Sunshine Fontes and Tokunaga — a pair of First Team All-Hawaii selections last year — each scored a goal in Pearl City's 2-1 quarterfinal win over third-seeded Baldwin Thursday night.

"We knew we had to mark a few of their forwards, so we all kind of just stacked the defense and everybody really had to play their part on our team, because we don't really have any superstars; it's really a team effort," said Mukaigawa, a sophomore midfielder.

Punahou coach Starr Johnson was quite appreciative of the clean sheet turned in by her defense, namely center-backs Allison Candelario and Kiara Fairbairn, along with outside-backs Alyssa Rasmussen and Emma Gusman.

"Our backs have worked very hard working together with their movement and there were definitely some scary moments — because they have phenomenal players who are definitely dangerous and had some serious opportunities — and we knew that it would take the team to shut them down and to play defense around the entire field and to just play with a lot of focus and composure. We're really proud of them using the strength of their teammate to our advantage."

The first half was completely dominated by the Buffanblu. They registered 10 shots — five of them on goal — while limited Pearl City to a single shot on goal, which was easily saved by starting goalkeeper Sunny Kane.

Kane wasn't asked to do much before giving way to back-up Hailey Asato, who made six saves after halftime — a few of them of the spectacular variety.

"I definitely would say that our goalkeeper came up with a huge save or two, but really, again it was a team effort and we're proud of the team for holding it down and holding it together," Johnson said. "The entire season our strength has been that we play as a team. There's nobody that thinks they're the prima donna, there's nobody from the outside that anticipates us and because of that we have to play as a unit and there's nothing stronger than a unit that works together."

Dydasco scored her sixth goal of the season — and first since Jan. 10 — 20 minutes into the match.

The senior forward blasted a right-footed shot from 15 yards out over Chargers' goalkeeper Coryn Perreira and into the top left corner of the net.

"I got a pass in and our coaches just said, ‘keep shooting, keep shooting,' so I just took a touch back to my right foot and shot it," said Dydasco, who signed with the University of Oregon Wednesday. "I didn't know where it was going to go, but I just shot it and that's why they say ‘keep shooting' because one will go in."

About 10 minutes later, Mukaigawa crossed a ball from the left side over to a hard-charging Jamie-Lyn Shimamoto on the right side, who one-timed a right-footed shot just inside the left post.

"I took the ball down the line and I saw my teammate wide open, so I split the defenders on the cross and she shot it," Mukaigawa said.

Punahou held a 2-0 halftime lead and added a late goal on a breakaway score by Mukaigawa.

The Buffanblu will make their first appearance in a state final since 2013, when they lost to Iolani 3-1. They won their last of 11 state championships in 2011.

"We're excited. It feels really good," Johnson said. "We're really proud of this team. They truly play as a team, for each other and with each other and it feels really good to be at this point with them."

Punahou and Iolani have met twice this season. They played to a 1-all tie at Iolani on Dec. 13 and the Raiders pulled off a 2-1 win at Punahou on Jan. 14.

"We've never gotten to the state championship since I've been at Punahou and playing Iolani is going to be exciting because I've never beaten them since the eighth grade," said Dydasco, who did not play in the most recent meeting due to illness. "It should be interesting."

Match time for Saturday's championship final is slated for 7 p.m. and will follow the D2 final between three-time defending champion Hawaii Prep and Kapaa at 5 p.m.