Takara lifts Aiea over Waipahu for OIA D2 title

Aiea's Kelly Takara (28) celebrates after scoring one of his two goals against Waipahu. CJ Caraang | SL

KAPOLEI — Aiea won its first-ever OIA Division II title after defeating Waipahu 2-1 at Alvin Nagasako Athletic Complex Saturday night.

Leading the way for Na Alii was freshmen midfielder Kelly Takara. He scored two second-half goals that helped Aiea claim its third overall league crown, the team's first since 1993.

"We're proud to bring the trophy back to Aiea," said Takara. "We're proud to represent our school. Our soccer tradition hasn't been around for a long time, so we're proud to make a statement and hopeful inspire more kids to play at Aiea."

It was Waipahu who struck first by scoring just two minutes into the game. A corner kick taken by James "Kalani" Kaneshiro found the head of sophomore midfielder Kohl Nakamura and in for the first goal of the game. Nakamura is the top scorer for the Marauders with seven goals.

Waipahu continued to pepper the Aiea goal with shots, but keeper Jarid Nakano was up to the task, saving three out of the four shots on goal. Aiea had a total of five shots in the first half, but most of them were off target and didn't test Waipahu keeper Matthew Bacnis.

"In the first half, we had tons of opportunities, but we couldn't finish," said fourth year Aiea coach Qaylan Malama. "We pretty much held the ball in the attacking half. But our ability to put the ball away was hard for us. Just to get a goal. That was a problem throughout the season. A lot of games that we played, we were dominate and controlled field position but we struggled to score goal."

Down 1-0 at the half, Na Alii entered the second half with intensity and some tactical adjustments.

"In the second half, our wingbacks pushed up and joined the attack more," Malama said. "They just sat back to defend in the first half. When the wingbacks stepped up, we started to overload Waipahu and we started attacking with six or seven. That gave us more passing options on offense."

The added pressure on offense would pay off for Aiea in the 45th minute. Na Alii were rewarded with a free kick right outside the 18-yard box after a Waipahu hand ball. Takara stepped up and drilled the kick under the wall and passed Bacnis.

Aiea continued to pressure Waipahu for the rest of the game and would eventually score the go-ahead goal in the 72nd minute. Na Alii won another free kick by the left side line and was taken by sophomore Konner Jacang. The kick whipped into the box and Takara headed the ball home for the game winning goal.

"First of all, Aiea played a really good game," said Waipahu coach Steven Santiago. "Aiea just came out with a great game plan in the second half. They began to play a good passing game and our boys were not. We were mostly watching the game. We held them for a bit but gave up two bad goals."

Besides Takara's goals, the Aiea back line protected Nakano in goal for most of the second half. The Marauders couldn't really create any chances until the end of the game when Kaneshiro hit a shot off the top of the cross bar in the 78th minute.

"They really held it together and they're very competitive," Malama said of his back line. "The two senior center backs (Dylan Soberano and Rex-N Casido) actually haven't really played soccer at all. But they are the back bone of the team. Our defense gives us a chance. How ever many mistakes we make up the field, they are there to help clean up those mistakes and I think that they did a wonderful job."

Today's game was the second time that Aiea and Waipahu have played each other in the last few weeks. The Marauders won 2-1 on Jan. 14.

"The first time we met, they did not play the same as they did tonight," Santiago said. "They upped their game tonight. Now I have to start getting us ready for states and then from there, we'll see how far we go. And then we'll look at next year when we are in Division I."

For Aiea, the only goal was to win the OIA title. With the HHSAA State tournament around the corner, they are not going to put any added pressure on themselves.

"We're going to keep training," Takara said. "States wasn't really our goal. We were mainly focused on the OIA tournament. But now we we'll focus on states and see how far we can get."