Iolani's KJ Ahlo makes a back-heel pass behind him to a Aaron Yanagi (not pictured). Sean Nakamura | SL

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Iolani's Timmy Leong performs a header near the right goal post for a point against Punahou. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Iolani fullback Aaron Yanagi launches the ball in front of Punahou's Alex Juarez. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Punahou's Kainoa McDonald battles an Iolani defender for possession. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Will Kawahara, left, congratulates teammate Timmy Leong, center, after his hat-trick against Punahou. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Sat, Dec 21, 2013 @ Punahou

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Iolani

2

Punahou

0

Final	1st	2nd	OT	2OT	PK	Tot
Iolani (17-0-1)	0	0	-	-	-	2
Punahou (11-5-3)	0	0	-	-	-	0

T. Leong    A. Yanagi

After a scoreless first half, Iolani’s Aaron Yanagi broke open the scoring early in the second and Timmy Leong added another goal for the Raiders in a 2-0 shutout over Punahou.

Iolani dominated the pitch, holding possession of the ball for much of the game. The Raiders placed relentless pressure on the Buffanblu defense taking about eight shot attempts at the goal.

"We knew that in order to create opportunities to score we needed to possess the ball and control the tempo of the game," said Iolani head coach Chris Lee.

In the 52nd minute, Iolani's KJ Ahlo found himself with the ball directly in front of Punahou’s goal near the penalty mark, but instead of shooting, he made a back-heel pass to teammate Aaron Yanagi behind him.

"I was running away from the goal (with the ball) and I saw him (Yanagi) running in," Ahlo said. "I thought he had a better shot than me, so I just gave it off to him."

Yanagi, a fullback, did not waste the opportunity. He connected with the pass and blasted a shot towards the left of the goal to find the net before Punahou defender Alex Juarez could make a stop.

"When we have the ball, we expect all our players to be on offense," said Lee, noting that both goals were scored by defenders. "When we don’t have the ball, we are all on defense trying to win it back."

Aggressive sliding and tackling by the Buffanblu along with wet, slick field conditions on turf contributed to the Raiders many opportunities for free kicks all around the field.

After a foul called against Punahou in the 63rd minute on the left side of the penalty box, Iolani finally cashed in one of their many free-kicks behind the right foot of midfielder Will Kawahara.

Kawahara launched a lob, crossing over towards the right side of the goal, finding teammate Timmy Leong who headed the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal.

"The coaches told me to put it in a spot where the goalie had to make a decision," Kawahara said. "So I just tried to do that and give the guys a chance to put it in."

Iolani played keep-away to kill the clock and it wasn’t until the final 10 minutes when the Buffanblu managed to take control of the ball with some offensive plays. However, unable to finish on corner and free-kick opportunities, the Buffanblu could not find the net thanks to the leadership of Raiders goalkeeper Josh Adachi.

"It helps that we have a great goalkeeper like Josh to not only be vocal, (but to help us) organize," Lee said. "It was a very physical game, we had to match their (Punahou’s) intensity, we had to win a lot of air balls. Our defense held strong."

Iolani improved to 4-0 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu while Punahou dropped to 2-1.