Punahou's Duncan McKenna tries to get the ball past Kapolei's Beau Meyer in a Division I semifinal match Friday night. CJ Caraang | SL

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Fri, Feb 10, 2017 @ Waipio

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Punahou

1

Kapolei

0

Final/2OT	1st	2nd	OT	2OT	PK	Tot
Punahou (13-2-2)	0	0	0	1	-	1
Kapolei (12-1-2)	0	0	0	0	-	0

D. McKenna (93')

WAIPAHU — Nineteen state championships don't happen without some mental toughness.

Punahou relied on that inner resolve to give itself a chance at title No. 20.

Duncan McKenna scored the game-winning goal in the 93rd minute as the Buffanblu outlasted previously-unbeaten Kapolei in double-overtime, 1-0, in the semifinals of the Queen's Medical Center/HHSAA Division I Boys Soccer State Championships at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium Friday night.

"It was a lot of fun until overtime, and maybe the last 20 minutes (of regulation) were a little bit stressful," said McKenna, a senior forward. "The legs were dead, but you've got to keep your mental side of the game and I think our team has done that pretty well this season."

Punahou controlled a large amount of the possession, and despite 23 shots — nine of them on goal — it failed to finish any of them in the 80 minutes of regulation.

"It was exciting, (but) it's just really frustrating because I felt like we were in their half for 75 percent of the time and when you're playing and keeping the ball and going, going, going, going and it doesn't happen, you kind of start to wonder, is it going to happen?" Buffanblu coach David Trifonovitch said. "They stuck to it, they stuck to their game and they were tired, they were on the verge of cramping and they just kept going, kept going, so I'm very proud of how they just really stuck in there and played with that kind of intensity."

Punahou continued to pepper the Kapolei goal in the first overtime period, but to no avail.

It wasn't until the third minute of the second overtime that the Buffanblu broke through.

Forward Hunter DeTurk dropped off a pass from inside the right edge of the 18-yard box to Max Moonier, who gathered the ball then served it just inside the left side of the 6-yard box. Moonier's pass found a leaping McKenna, who headed past Kapolei goalkeeper Jason Catron and into the goal.

"The ball came to me — I was blessed to get the ball — and thankfully I got good contact and it went through the goalie," McKenna said. "I got a nice cross from Max. He's usually someone I can depend on to get me a good ball."

It was McKenna's team-leading 14th goal of the season and third in two days. He scored two of Punahou's three goals in a quarterfinal win over Kealakehe Thursday.

"He enjoys playing the game," Trifonovitch said of McKenna. "He's big, he's strong, he loves to get the ball and he's a go-to guy. Everybody knows it and the good part is, even when everybody knows it he's still hard to stop, so he really helps us out."

Count Kapolei co-head coach Ryan Lau amongst those in the know.

"I think what Punahou was able to do was ball-win and win the second balls and after that they were able to go wide and they were able to get service into the box," Lau said. "They have a quality target player — Duncan McKenna — and they like to find him, they like to switch the point of attack and they put a lot of pressure on us tonight."

The Buffanblu got a late emotional spark when senior Noah Williams entered the game in the first OT. Williams, whose seven goals this season rank second on the team only to McKenna, did not start the game due to a injury, but brought a slew of energy — and relatively fresh legs — off the bench.

"Noah Williams has been playing through injury all season and when he came in it was a huge boost in energy, so props to him for being a tough guy," McKenna said.

Punahou had a pair of scoring chances in regulation come up just inches short. Nicholas Nakaoka's shot on goal in the 12th minute deflected off a Kapolei defender, but was cleared by another just in front of the goal line. In the 64th minute, Kobi Saito's shot bounced off the bottom of the crossbar and almost straight down, but did not cross the plane of the goal.

Kapolei's best opportunity came in the 70th minute, when Bradyn Yoshida got a head on a cross from Sam Wren. Yoshida's header appeared headed for the goal, but the ball died just in front of the end line and was cleared by a Buffanblu defender.

"We had some combination, but it was not enough," Lau said. "Punahou came out hard tonight. Give them credit. They were able to sustain the pressure throughout."

Buffanblu goalkeeper Ian Withy-Berry saved all three Kapolei shots on goal.

Catron finished with six saves.

Kapolei, which was shut out for the first time this season, did not attempt a corner kick, while Punahou took 10.

The game was a rematch of last year's state final. Punahou won that game over Kapolei, 2-0.

The Buffanblu (12-2-2) will try for their record 20th state title. They will face Kaiser in the 7 p.m. title game Saturday in a battle of unseeded teams.

"I'm happy for the boys; That's where they want to be. They set their sights on that goal from the beginning of the year, so now we're hoping to get another title, but we're happy to be in the final," Trifonovitch said.

The Oahu Interscholastic Association-champion Hurricanes (12-1-2) saw their six-game win streak snapped. They will play third-seeded Baldwin for third place Saturday.