Aiea edges host Mililani

Aiea's Sheyliene Patolo (left) and Sydney Boyd (right) run toward teammates after Boyd's winning-goal in the 77th minute. Spencer Honda | SL

MILILANI — Sydney Boyd scored in the 77th minute and No. 8 Aiea squeaked by No. 6 Mililani, 1-0, Friday night at John Kauinana Stadium to pull into a tie for second place with the Trojans in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Western Division girls' soccer standings.

"It was great," Boyd said of the win. "We worked so hard in practice. Just to get the results we wanted is amazing. All success to my team. They worked so hard. It's a good win for us."

Each team has one game left — Na Alii (7-2) will host Nanakuli and the Trojans (7-2) will be at home against Radford. Should they remained tied for second, Aiea will earn the crucial first-round bye for the 12-team OIA tournament. Both trail Pearl City (8-0 entering Friday).

"It was crucial," Mililani coach Ray Akiona said of the loss. "It was good positioning for us to go into the playoffs, but maybe that's what's going to wake us up and get us ready for the playoffs."

Mililani had opportunites to break the deadlock earlier in the second half, but keeper Shayla Sugai made three saves.

Finally, with about three minutes left, Boyd took a pass from Nicole Olanda in the middle. Trojans' goalkeeper Andrea Kenagy charged the attacking Boyd, but the ball got by for the only score of the game.

"The goalie started coming out and Nicole (Olanda) slipped it through and I just had to pass it," said Boyd, who was about 18 yards out.

Aiea had four corner kick chances in the second half, but the Trojans' defense prevailed each time. But it only took one chance for Na Alii on a breakaway.

"They capitalized on one good play," Akiona said "That's something you have to give them credit for."

Mililani had a free kick in the first half from 18 yards after Sugai grabbed the ball just outside the penalty box line. But Jaylen Lum's kick was wide left.

Assistant coach Qaylan Malama was pleased with the win but was more concerned about the effort.

"The score line is never important," said Malama, subbing for coach Ben Villaflor, who is on the Mainland. "Score lines don't matter, don't mean anything. We tell these girls to perform at the highest level and be the character they want to be. And what character we want is hard-working individuals that fight for what they want."

And that's what Na Alii did to pull themselves into a favorable position for the OIA tournament. A first-round bye means fresher legs against the team they will face from the first round.

For Boyd, a junior, it was her first time beating the Trojans.

"We always tied for or we always lost," Boyd said. "We met them last year in states in quarters and we lost. To come back and win is sweet."

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].