Mililani wrecks Aiea's season opener

The Trojans congratulate Ali Fuamatu-Maafala (6) after she scored her second goal of the night in the second half against Aiea. Greg Yamamoto | SL

AIEA — The reigning OIA Division I champions did not look the part in their league opener Friday night.

Visiting Mililani scored early and often in a 6-0 rout of Na Alii to earn its second straight win to start OIA West play.

Junior Ali Fuamatu-Maafala scored a goal in each half as the Trojans avenged a 1-0 loss to Aiea (0-1) in last season's league semifinals.

The visitors made their presence known early with two shots on goal in the opening minute. Mililani (2-0) couldn't capitalize on the early opportunity, but found the back of the net in the ninth minute when senior Aislynn Crowder scored on a free kick from just outside of the goal area.

Freshman Kailee Wilson, who attempted the first shot of the match, doubled the Trojans lead in the 13th minute with a nice shot from the left side.

One minute later Fuamatu-Maafala notched her first goal of the year after receiving a nice pass from sophomore Kiana Muratsuka near the right side of the pitch.

First-year Mililani coach Darren Smith, a long-time assistant of the program, noted that his team was well-prepared for Aiea.

"(Aiea) is a fantastic team. It's always nice to face them. (Coach) Ben (Villaflor) has been with the program for quite some time so we had an idea of what they're looking to do. We were fortunate that we were able to capitalize on the situation.

"We've been preparing for anything we're looking to face in the future (and) Aiea was on the board."

The score would hold at 3-0 until two minutes into the second half when Fuamatu-Maafala scored off the ricochet of captain Meagan Tamashiro's corner kick.

Mehana Ortiz, another Mililani captain, added to the lead in the 47th minute. Cece Jenkins' free kick from about 40 yards out in the 64th minute provided the final goal of the night.

It's also worth noting that the Trojans picked up the shutout with starting goalkeeper Sydni Nakamura recovering from a concussion. Kalei Navares was in goal for Mililani in the first half while Tiani Olivera handled the duties after the break.

Mililani often did mass substitutions throughout the contest given the score disparity, but had two players stay on the field for all 80 minutes: centerbacks Jacey Jicha and Kamryn Shigemoto.

"They are our spine," Smith said of Jicha and Shigemoto. "They're our go-to players in the sense that we look for them to remain consistent, and they did just that."

Aiea's best scoring opportunity came in the 32nd minute when Alysa Slater got loose for an uncontested shot on goal, but pushed it just wide left of the target.

Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].