The Surfriders pat Keely Smith on the head after scoring the game-winning goal in overtime. CJ Caraang | SL

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KAPOLEI — Keely Smith scored from about 15 yards out in the 83rd minute and Kailua beat Radford, 2-1, in sudden death overtime Saturday night to capture the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II girls' soccer championship at the Alvin Nagasako Sports Complex.

Kylee Smith threw in the ball to Kalia Naweli-Silva, who booted a short pass toward Keely Smith in the middle. Keely Smith then fired a shot by Radford keeper Leah Price for the game winner.

It was Kailua's first title since 2010 and third overall. The Surfriders (7-5) are likely to get one of the four seeded berths for The Queen's Medical Center Division II state tournament, which starts Feb. 7. Radford (4-7-1), Nanakuli (3-8-2) and Leilehua (4-9) also qualify for the state tournament.

"This is a first for me, so I'm beyond happy," Keely Smith said. "I'm proud of every one of my teammates. Words can't express the way I feel right now."

After a scoreless first half, the Surfriders broke the ice when Ashley Lopez sent a direct kick from 35 yards out in front of the goal. The ball went off a Radford defender for an own goal and a 1-0 lead for the Surfriders.

"I think it was lucky we got the shot," said Lopez, who takes most of the team's free kicks. "My friend, Kalia (Neweli-Silva), she's the one that followed it through." 

But relentless Radford came back 16 minutes later when freshman Rhylee Duff scored from about 18 yards from the right. It came after her corner kick sailed across to the left of the goal but got redirected back to her. The momentum seemed to shift as the Rams started attacking through the rest of regulation and early in the OT.

"I think we kind of lost our composure for a little bit," Lopez said. "We started just kicking the ball around because we were getting tired. But we came back in overtime and we got the goal."

The Surfriders might have lost some steam toward the end of regulation.

"The intensity was high from the very beginning," Kailua coach Malu Afong said. "So as Radford started putting the pressure on us, some of the nerves weren't settled, so I think it was starting to get the best of (our players). So it was good we had a break (between regulation and OT) because we had to redirect them, compose them."

Three minutes into OT, the Surfriders had a throw-in on the Rams side of the field. Kaweli-Silva kicked a pass toward an open Keely Smith, who booted in the game winner.

"The ball, I saw it going toward the center," Keely Smith said of the ball. "When it's sudden death, you just have to get one in there. I looked up and I don't think the keeper was ready for a shot, so I just took one. What went through my mind is, 'keep it low.' We hadn't kicked any low balls in the game. I knew how (the keeper) could catch the high balls, so I thought, ‘keep it on the ground.'"

It was a heart-breaker for the Rams, who battled back to tie.

"It's OK," Rams coach Sheri Uyematsu said. "They fought back. We were down 1-0 and they fought back as hard as they could. They had a great season, so it's good."