Kaiser's Taylor Takada advances the ball up the field against Kalani. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Kaiser's Christian Longnecker battles Kalani's Trevor Kakuda for possession. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Kalani's Marc Teshima attempts to get past a Kaiser defender. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Kaiser's Andrew Kaufusi advances the ball against Kalani. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Kaiser players celebrate after defeating Kalani in the OIA Red title game. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Fri, Jan 31, 2014 @ Mililani

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Kalani

1

Kaiser

3

Final	1st	2nd	OT	2OT	PK	Tot
Kalani (13-7-0)	0	0	-	-	-	1
Kaiser (13-3-0)	0	0	-	-	-	3

C. Longnecker    T. Buntenbah-Leong    T. Takada

MILILANI - On a rainy and foggy night, Kaiser struck like lightning with two second-half goals about a minute apart to beat Kalani, 3-1, for the Cougars' first O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red boys' soccer crown.

"HIstory in the making," Kaiser's Taylor Takada said. "It feels great."

A mostly East O'ahu crowd of about 400 made the trek to Mililani's John Kauinana Stadium Friday night to see the first all-Eastern Division final since 1996, when Kalaheo beat Kahuku, 4-3, in overtime. Since geographical division play started in 1979, the West had won 25 OIA titles. It was Kaiser's fifth title game appearance; it had lost to Mililani in 1985 and 2002; to Pearl City in 1987; and to Kapolei in 2011.

"This meant a lot to us," Kaiser coach Marco Antonio Gloria said. "We told the guys since 1973, when Kaiser came up, nobody won the OIA and the girls were so close and we thought maybe they would have it. We've been so close for the last five years. We knew someday all of it would click."

Kaiser (11-2) avenged a regular-season loss to Kalani (10-3) that made the Cougars the East's second seed in the 12-team Red tournament and put them in the same bracket as two-time defending champion Mililani in Thursday's semifinals. The Cougars and Trojans went at it for 100 minutes before the semifinal was decided by penalty kicks.

The defending state champion Falcons, the East's top seed, will have to wait another season for their first league title.

Kaiser will draw a first-round bye for the Division I boys' soccer tournament Feb. 12 to 15 at the Wapio Peninsula Soccer Complex. The Falcons will have to defend their state title the way they won it last year: as an unseeded team.

"We talked about it from the beginning, about we all wanted it," Kaiser defender Jake Niiro said. "We knew it was achievable because of our talent. Just getting here and winning is just unreal."

With the game tied at 1, Takada's blast from about 35 yards put Kaiser ahead, 2-1 at the 56th minute. About a minute later, Thomas Butenbah-Leong drilled a shot from about 10 yards from the left wing to increase Kaiser's lead to 3-1.

"That shot that Shota (Takada) took from 25, 30 yards left-footed - he's a right-footed kicker - unstoppable shot. That really lifted them," Kalani coach Mike Ching said. "It just really deflated us. The second goal, we kind of ran into each other, a little miscommunication. It happens."

"Our coach has been telling us there's no impossible shot," Takada said, "so if you have a chance, take it. I felt it was the right move at the time and took it. With the slippery surface like this, anything's possible."

It was the second game in a row the Cougars scored successive goals so quickly. Trailing 2-0 against Mililani at the half, the Cougars struck with goal a minute apart in the second half to tie the game and force overtime and the eventual penalty kicks shootout.

"We're a very emotional team," Gloria said. "I think it spills over from me; I'm a very emotional coach. You get 'em revved up and you get 'em pumped, once you get one, there's the next one coming. We get really dangerous."

A venue change to accommodate OC 16's telecast - the cable company had technical issues in last week's girls' championship at Kapolei, which has grass - might have made a difference for the skillful Cougars. Kauinana Stadium has an artificial surface with true hops and better footing.

"They have a lot of talent and they were playing on the nice field," Ching said. "Playing at Kaiser (during the regular season), it was a lot muddy, so you could see some of the skill (on Mililani's surface). That second goal (by Butenbah-Leong), he chipped it over the guy's leg, made a run. He wouldn't have been able to do that at Kaiser. So hat's off to them. They're a fantastic team."

The Cougars scored first in the 21st minute on Christian Longnecker's shot from about eight yards after a throw-in. But the Falcons played tough to keep their deficit at one by the half.

The Falcons tied it at the 51st minute when Marc Teshima scored off a header from about eight yards out on a play initiated by a direct kick from Trevor Yamashita from about 50 yards out.

But five minutes later, lightning struck in the form of back-to-back goals by Takada and Butenbah-Leong.

"We have great players," Gloria said. "We have Shota Takada, Thomas Butenbah, Christian Longnecker,, we've got the two defenders, Jake (Niiro) and Matt Sai in the back. We have great players; they're all all-stars. And I think we have the best goalie in the state in Mike Austin. He's excellent."