HHSAA Girls Soccer
Iolani tops Punahou, 2-1, to capture fifth state title


  



Sat, Feb 4, 2017 @ Waipio


Final 1st 2nd OT 2OT PK Tot
Punahou (12-2-1) 0 1 - - - 1
Iolani (13-0-3) 2 0 - - - 2
K. Kim-Bustillos (35', 37')   L. Mukaigawa (71')

WAIPAHU — It was time to exorcise some demons for Kylee Kim-Bustillos.

The Iolani senior forward did just that in a three-minute span Saturday night, and the result was a long-desired state title.

Kim-Bustillos scored a pair of first-half goals and Iolani held off second-seeded Punahou 2-1 in the title game of the Queen's Medical Center/HHSAA Division I Girls Soccer State Championships before a crowd of about 1,500 at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.

"It's the best," said an overjoyed Kim-Bustillos while tightly clutching the championship trophy. "Capping off our senior year, it couldn't have gone any better this way. I'm so happy we won because we've come so close and we've fallen short every year, except for this year, so I'm really happy."

The Raiders (13-0-3) completed an undefeated season to claim their fifth state title and first since 2013. They finished second to the Buffanblu (12-2-1) in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu.

Kim-Bustillos, a senior forward who signed with Sacramento State earlier in the week, scored in the 35th and 37th minutes for her 23rd and 24th goals of the year and was named the tournament's most outstanding player.

Iolani coach Kristin Masunaga credited the on- and off-the-pitch contributions of Kim-Bustillos, along with fellow seniors Shantel Torres-Benito and Samantha Masca — all of them four-year varsity players.

"They've all really matured as people and players," Masunaga said. "It's special. They've worked hard. We've had those three since their freshman year. They've had their eyes set on the big picture. We lost two years ago in the finals on an unfortunate bounce and last year we lost against Pearl City, so this is a good feeling."

The win was an especially redeeming one for Kim-Bustillos, who had dealt with muscle cramps in each of the past two state tournaments.

"Kylee hasn't had a good state tournament the last three years for whatever reason, but we told her, ‘this is your year,' and she knew it and she scored two goals for us tonight," Masunaga said.

Kim-Bustillos put the Raiders ahead with about five minutes left in the first half, capitalizing on a well-placed pass from freshman center-mid Kelsey Takashi.

"Kelsey sent me a through-ball and I saw the goalie come out, but then I didn't have a good angle so I cut it back and I chipped it over her and into the net," said Kim-Bustillos, who scored with her left foot from about 25 yards out.

Just about three minutes later, she found the back of the net again — this time with her right foot from about 15 yards away. After gathering a header from freshman Mia Watanabe, Kim-Bustillos separated from a pack of Punahou defenders and fired a ball out of the reach of goalkeeper Sunny Kane and into the left side of the goal.

"t was a great pass," Kim-Bustillos said. "I saw the goalie come out again and I slipped it past her — that time I had the angle."

Punahou had allowed just five goals all season prior to Saturday.

The Raiders held a 2-0 lead at halftime, which held until the 71st minute when sophomore center-mid Lauren Mukaigawa scored from 20 yards out. It was her 14th goal of the season and the only score allowed by the Raiders in their four state tournament games.

The Queen's Medical Center/HHSAA Girls Soccer State Championships All-Tournament Team

as selected by the HHSAA, media and coaches

Division I

True Dydasco, Punahou
Kiara Fairbairn, Punahou
Sunshine Fontes, Pearl City
Skylar Littlefield, Baldwin
Cambrie Motooka, Iolani
Lauren Mukaigawa, Punahou
Ciana Rivera, Castle
Daelenn Tokunaga, Pearl City
Mia Watanabe, Iolani
Kelsey Wong, Iolani
Karlin Wurlitzer, Mililani
Kawai Scanlan, Iolani (GK)

Most Outstanding Player: Kylee Kim-Bustillos, Iolani

"Our defense has been solid for us all year," Masunaga said. "They really go unnoticed, but they've definitely held down the fort for us."

Iolani's defense — and goalkeepers Musuai Isaia and Kawai Scanlan — were put to the test in the final 10 minutes of the match.

Scanlan, a senior, started the match in goal before giving way to Isaia, a sophomore, to start the second half. After the Mukaigawa's goal, Scanlan was re-inserted between the posts. Punahou peppered her in the closing minutes, but she denied them each time. Six of Punahou's seven shots on goal came after halftime.

Scanlan and Isaia combined for five saves.

Iolani had eight shots, five of them on goal. Seven of Punahou's 11 shots were on goal.

Buffanblu coach Starr Johnson said her team didn't get off to the start that it hoped for.

"We didn't play a full 80 minutes. We didn't play the entire game that we needed to," Johnson said. "There were definitely moments where we played our game and we shined and we did really well, but we didn't do it for long enough, but I'm super proud of our players. I wouldn't trade my team for any other team in the state and I wouldn't trade any of my players for any other player."

It was the third time the teams played this season. They played to a 1-1 tie at Iolani on Dec. 13 and Iolani came away with a 2-1 road win at Punahou on Jan. 14.

The teams had met in two previous state finals. Punahou defeated Iolani in 2011 — its last state crown — and Iolani returned the favor two years later.

The Buffanblu were seeking a record 12th state title.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




Show your support

Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.

Please consider making a contribution today.

ADVERTISEMENT


IMAGE GALLERY



MORE STORIES

Castle takes down Kaiser in four sets to keep pace in OIA East

Cody Pili-Rumusod had nine kills and a game-high 35 assists to pace the Knights, winners of four straight...

Radford wins on walk-off wild pitch to turn back Kalaheo

Mataio Tauanuu batted 4-for-4 and scored the game-winning run in back-and-forth game for the Rams.

Punahou continues unbeaten streak, hands Kamehameha second straight loss

Third-ranked Warriors suffered consecutive losses in the regular season for the first time since 2017.

No. 4 Iolani rallies to hand No. 1 Kamehameha first ILH loss

Ethan Akagi and CJ Taira scored the winning runs for the Raiders off a wild pitch to hand the top-ranked...

Punahou pulls away from PAC-5 to notch first ILH win

The Buffanblu ended a five-game skid and broke into the win column to keep the Wolfpack winless in the...

Kalani's Nishigaya headlines All-OIA East selections

Forward/midfielder Kaiulani Nishigaya helped lift Falcons to first-ever league title; Kaiser's Noelani...