Tia Furuta evades defenders and scores one of Mililani's two goals to clinch the Western Division title and division's top seed for the OIA tournament. Steve Erler | Special to SL

×

012015_01_20_2015_steve_erler-19-2.jpg - Steve Erler | Special to SL

Purchase this image
4x5 5x7 8x10 image download

MILILANI - Tia Furuta and Jayna Morikawa each booted a second-half goal and Mililani rallied by Pearl City, 2-1, Tuesday night to capture the Oahu Interscholastic Association Western Division girls' soccer crown at John Kauinana Stadium.

The Trojans (9-0-1 or 28 points) captured 22nd Oahu Interscholastic Association Western Division crown and secured the division's top seed for the 12-team OIA tournament.

It was a heart-breaker for the Chargers (7-2-1, 22 points). A win would have given them a share of the division crown and the top seed because of the head-to-head tie-breaker. Instead, Pearl City drops to the fourth seed because Aiea beat Waianae, 3-0, to finish 7-1-2 (23 points) and take the second seed. Campbell, which played to a scoreless tie with Radford, finished (7-2-1, 22 points). The Sabers (who have a loss and tie to Division II teams) beat the Chargers during the regular season to take the head-to-head tie-breaker.

Tuesday's games marked the end of the regular season in the West.

"We went from possibly being first to fourth," Pearl City coach Frank Baumholtz III said. "We know we have the long road to go, same as we had last year."

The long road did not hurt the Chargers, who finished fourth in the West last year. They ended up winning the OIA title.

Pearl City took a 1-0 lead three minutes into the game on a goal by Randi Fontes. The Chargers held that lead into the half.

The Trojans, who still would have clinched the top seed with a tie, tied the game at 1 in the 53rd minute when Furuta drilled a high-arcing shot from 30 yards that over the out-stretched arms of goalie Sydney Young.

"Actually, I thought it was going to go over (the post)," said Furuta of her Western Division-leading 17th goal. "I was super happy when it went in."

Mililani took the lead in the 72nd minute when Morikawa took a pass from Taylor Cadiz and booted her shot from about five yards out from the right side of the goal.

"I got a cross from Taylor, took a touch and saw that the goal was wide open and took the shot," Morikawa said.

Though the Trojans trailed early, there was no panic.

"Pearl City is really good and they'll come at you from the very (first) minute," Mililani coach Ray Akiona said. "What we wanted to do was just the opposite. We wanted to settle down, get control of the ball, keep the ball on the ground with our feet. We had great passing, good team work so our strategy was to keep the ball on the ground, move it around and then go down the field when the opportunity comes."

Trailing 1-0 early in the second half, Furuta took a throw-in from the left sideline at about the football hash mark, turned around and ripped the ball right down the middle of the net under the cross bar.

"She's got a leg on her," Akiona said. "She knows where the goal is, just a natural instinct to know where the goal is. She's so strong physically, so she can hold off defenders and make that turn and make shots. Most goalkeepers would not have even touched it, but Pearl City had a good play on it."

Though a tie would have sufficed for the Trojans, they wanted to get into postseason mode.

"Tie was a good thing for us, but it was a matter of us getting to that level where we needed to be,"  Akiona said. "So for us, we have to accomplish every game as a better game. Even though a tie would have been satisfying, the girls wanted to bring their level a little bit higher. Our goal is to raise our level, really."

"It was a really good feeling (to win the title)," said Morikawa, a junior. "I was just happy we could do it for the seniors."

The top six teams from each division advances to the OIA tournament. The top six Division I West teams are Mililani, Aiea, Campbell, Kapolei (5-4-1, 16 points) and Waianae (0-6-4, 4 points).