Warriors edge Raiders in OT to force playoff

Kamehameha's Leah Feato celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal in overtime against Iolani Saturday night. Eric Nakamura | Special to SL

WAIPAHU — Leah Feato scored the game-winning goal off an assist from Maya Hagiwara to lift No. 2 Kamehameha to a 3-2 win in overtime over top-ranked Iolani at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium Saturday night.

The win gives the Warriors (10-2) the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's Division I second round title and forces a one-game playoff against the first-round champion Raiders (9-2-1) for the overall league crown Tuesday.

That game — the fourth between the teams this season — will be played at Iolani's Kozuki Stadium with a 3:30 p.m. kickoff.

Feato's goal came five minutes into the overtime period and was just her second of the year.

"Maya passed me the ball, I saw that Iolani's defensive line was flat, so I just saw the open space, ran through it and called for the ball and she executed it very nicely," said Feato, who came off the bench about 24 minutes into the game.

Kamehameha coach Melissa Moore described the golden goal from her vantage point.

"Maya had a fantastic ball through — well played, the pace was great, the wait was great — and Leah just got on her horse and went to the horse, and you know when Leah's gonna wind up, she's a finisher," Moore said.

Feato, a three-year starter for the Warriors, was playing in just her second game since suffering a left knee injury (ACL and meniscus tear) last April that required surgery over the summer.

"I am so proud of her," Kamehameha coach Melissa Moore said of the senior forward. "I mean, she has worked really hard — she's been training with us for the last two months while knowing that she's probably not going to get on the field — (but) once she got that clearance, we were like, ‘You wanna play? Are you good?' You know, she took about a week and after a week, she was like, ‘I'm good. I can play,' and honestly, during the trainings, she could, I mean, she could go, she looks great, so to have her score like that, that's huge and senior year, that's huge."

The only other action Feato saw this season came in a 4-0 win over Mid-Pacific on Jan. 7 — the Warriors' senior night.

"As I was going through my rehab and I kept telling myself to give a hundred percent for the team because they give a hundred percent for me, and that's what I did," Feato said. "Even though I physically might not be a hundred percent, I felt like I was (Saturday) and I just told myself mentally that I was and just to play for my team because I knew they had my back."

Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].