KAPOLEI — Mililani's second-half play Saturday night was much like its play in the second half of the season: convincing.

The fourth-ranked Trojans netted a pair of goals in a five-minute span after halftime and turned in another clean sheet on defense to lay claim to their 18th league championship with a 2-0 win over No. 5 Moanalua in the title game of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I girls soccer tournament.

A crowd of about 300 spectators at Kapolei's Alvin Nagasako Sports Complex saw Mililani, the top seed out of the Western Division, improve to 12-1 with its sixth straight win — all of them by shut out.

East top seed Moanalua suffered its first loss of the season and saw its five-game win streak snapped to fall to 9-1-2.

The Trojans have allowed just two goals all season and were stingy defensively once again Saturday. It held Na Menehune to only two shots on goal and applied suffocating pressure.

First-year Mililani coach Darren Smith said that senior forward Taylor Hayes — the Menes' top goal scorer with 11 on the year — was among those his team tabbed as a pivotal piece for Moanalua offensively.

"We definitely identified they had key players that are extremely important, so we made sure that they were limited in time and space. That was probably the best option and it worked well," Smith said. "We recognized that (Hayes is) dangerous in tight spaces. If we give her a look, she'll take the opportunity, so we tried our best to contest that she may have had tonight."

The result was the Trojans' 11th shut out of the season.

"Our defense is phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal," said junior midfielder Ali Fuamatu-Maafala. "You know, defense wins championships and they definitely held it down back there the entire season."

Conversely, it was just the second time that Moanalua was held without a goal this year.

"The girls were mentally prepared. We've been pushing them for quite some time for this very moment, so they answered well. These girls bust their tails, so it was fantastic," said Smith, whose team clinched a seeded berth and first-round bye in the state tournament.

After a scoreless first half, Mililani missed getting on the board by just inches five minutes into the second half. Megan Tamashiro put a solid strike on the ball from about 20 yards out, but her shot banged off the crossbar and was eventually cleared by Na Menehune.

However, four minutes after Tamashiro's near-goal, the Trojans got on the board. Shaunee Egloria got behind the Moanalua defense and down near the end line before sliding a cross toward teammate Mehana Ortiz, who cashed in from point blank for the goal.

Ortiz, a senior forward/midfielder, said she was momentarily confused because the assistant referee near the play raised his flag — unbeknownst to her at the time, for a Moanalua foul — but the center official allowed play to continue as Egloria had the advantage.

"Shaunee was driving down the line and everybody stopped, I even stopped — we didn't know, we thought it was out or something — but apparently it was a foul and so she kept going. It came slowly, but I was able to finish it and it was overwhelming, but a relief to finally score after a whole half," Ortiz said of her team-leading 11th goal of the season.

Smith credited Egloria for playing through the confusion and Ortiz for making the most of the chance.

"That was just another element where we're asking a lot of our players to get down the line and give us an opportunity and we were able to capitalize in that moment," Smith said.

Just five minutes after Ortiz scored, Mililani added to its lead off off of a restart. Cece Jenkins put her corner kick in the middle of the 6-yard box and Jacey Jicha got a head on it twice, but it was deflected away by a Moanalua defender both times. The second rebound, however, came away to Fuamatu-Maafala, who recycled the second chance into her fifth goal on the year.

"Jacey had that first touch initially and I think they kept fighting for it in the box and then I just came in there and I just finished the job for Jacey. I just found my opportunity and I just put it in the back of the net," Fuamatu-Maafala said.

Smith said Fuamatu-Maafala was in the right place at the right time.

"It was just a fantastic effort. It was good that our center-back, Jacey, was able to get the header on it twice and then Ali definitely buried it, just luck of the draw, that's one of those balls that just bounce your way, but they wanted that goal," Smith said. "They were hungry for that moment, so it was fantastic that they just pushed through."

Fuamatu-Maafala's goal further swung the tide of momentum to the Trojans' side.

"I think we definitely had the momentum. We felt very confident that we could continue to connect our passes and build down the field. I think we were getting a bit antsy in the first half so we were pushing the pace a little early, but in the second half we maintained our composure and were able to find those higher options," Smith explained.

Mililani's lone loss on the pitch was a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Campbell in a regular-season matchup on Jan. 3. Since then, it has outscored its opponents 36 to zero.

The team has also persevered through the departure of several players from the team, including First Team All-Hawaii midfielder Aislynn Crowder, who graduated at the conclusion of the fall semester and is an early enrollee at UCLA.

"We've lost a couple (of players) on the way, but we've worked together as a team for those of who are still here and I feel like we've overcome all of the stuff we've been through and we're truly a team this year," Ortiz said.

It is Mililani's first OIA championship since it won three straight from 2016 to 2018.

"First and foremost, all glory to God for this win," Fuamatu-Maafala said. "Our team really worked hard throughout the entire season. This is really a big team effort and we wouldn't be here without anybody else on the team."

While the championship is nice, to be sure, it's the first-round bye in the 12-team state tournament that excites Smith the most.

"Absolutely. It's a marathon, it's about who has legs at the end of the tournament for the most part, so having that bye is huge," he said.

A team from the Western Division has won the league D1 crown in each of the past nine seasons. Moanalua was the most recent East school to win it in 2012, the last of its three OIA crowns.

The Queen's Medical Center/HHSAA State Championships will take place in two weeks, with the title game on Saturday, Feb. 8 at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.

Na Menehune, along with Campbell, Aiea, Pearl City and Kailua will open the 12-team tournament on Monday, Feb. 3 in regional games. Mililani will not play until the quarterfinal round on Thursday, Feb. 6 at the Waipio main stadium.