Mid-Pacific's Eshan Mehta battles Honoka'a's Tony Connors for possession. Brien Ing | SL

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Mid-Pacific's Brandon Ho battles Honoka'a's Preston Branco for possession. Scott Nishi | SL

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Mid-Pacific's Payton Boyd battles Honoka'a's Sean Quinlan in midair. Brien Ing | SL

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Honoka'a's Sean Perala dribbles the ball down the field against Mid-Pacific. Brien Ing | SL

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Mid-Pacific goalie Andrew Musgrave makes a sliding save of a ball against Honoka'a. Scott Nishi | SL

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Honoka'a's Chance Salva hurdles a Mid-Pacific defender. Scott Nishi | SL

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Mid-Pacific players pose for a picture after defeating Honoka'a for the Division II state title. Scott Nishi | SL

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Sat, Feb 15, 2014 @ Waipio

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Mid-Pacific

2

Honokaa

0

Final	1st	2nd	OT	2OT	PK	Tot
Mid-Pacific (7-4-4)	0	0	-	-	-	2
Honokaa (2-1-0)	0	0	-	-	-	0

P. Boyd    T. Allen

WAIPAHU--Mid-Pacific Institute claimed their third overall Division II State Championship over Honoka'a, 2-0 in the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts/Hawaii High School Atletic Association Division II Soccer State Championships at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex. It is their first state title since 2010 and Mid-Pacific coach Jayson Abe coached both teams. 

"Two teams that played with a lot of heart and character, both teams are very deserving. Especially this team, they're incredibly young," said Mid-Pacific coach Jayson Abe, on the 2010 and this year's team. 

"It feels good, I didn't work hard for nothing and to win this feels amazing, just winning with the team, with the seniors for the last time on the field is amazing. We all just worked super hard for this and we practiced hard and it came down to it and we put away and took it home," said junior defender Brandon Ho. 

In the 25th minute, sophomore midfielder Tyler Allen scored the Owls' first goal off a header from Brandon Ho's free kick. 

"I just tried to nail it to the back post and hopefully one of my teammates was going to be there, they always are and got my back and I just put it there and they put it in," said Ho. 

"It was a cross coming in, I jumped up in the air tried to get my head on it and tried to direct it toward the goal, I wasn't even looking and turn around and it's rolling into the goal, what a feeling," said Allen.

"It was a well placed ball by Brandon Ho. We had a free kick, our center back Brandon Ho put a ball back into the sixth which forced the goalkeeper to make a decision to come off the line or to make the save so Tyler Allen was fortunate enough to be there and put it in the back of the net for us and I thought it opened the game up for us," said Abe. 

The defense also stepped up and had some key stops and clear outs. Late in the first half, Honoka'a had a chance to tie the game at one, as Preston Branco took the free kick just outside the penalty box. However, Andrew Musgrave had a nice save to prevent the Dragons from getting on the scoreboard. The Owls had five saves for the game. 

"Defensively our back line is really solid and that's where we build up our attack and that's where it starts," said Allen. 

"Our defense is solid, part of it is we're never content and we want to keep pressing. It's all 11 guys that are really working hard from the guys from up top to all the way to our goalkeeper," said Abe. 

Mid-Pacific was aggressive on the offensive end as they had 16 shots on goal. The Dragons  had 10 shots on goal. 

"I think we played great, we played our possession game and we got our goals," said Allen. 

"I thought the boys really played well, they executed their game plan after the first 10-15 minutes they settled down and to play quick and let the ball do the work," said Abe.

In the 48th minute, freshman Payton Boyd added an insurance goal to put Mid-Pacific up 2-0. He shook a couple Honoka'a defenders and with the goalkeeper to beat, he kicked it into the left corner of the goal. 

"I couldn't really do it by myself, I had a combo with Tyler Allen and after I received the ball, I took the past the final defenders and placed it into the left corner," said Boyd. 

 The Owls finished fifth in 2011 and third in 2012 and last year, the Owls lost to Kapa'a 2-1 in the DII Championship game.

"It means so much, especially since I'm a sophomore and I want to win it again for the next two years," said Allen. 

"It feels really good, all those practices and all that running really paid off," said Boyd. 

"They really performed tonight, it's been a rough year in terms of injuries, but through it all they hung in there and stood together as a team. One of the things we talked about was playing for not only for themselves, but for the front of the shirt 'Mid-Pacific' and everyone else that played before them and I think they did that, they started playing for one another and they're a good group," said Abe.

OUTRIGGER HOTELS & RESORTS/HHSAA BOYS SOCCER STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
Division II All-Tournament Team (as selected by the media and HHSAA)
Tyler Allen, Mid-Pacific
KJ Kharim Barthson, Hawaii Prep
Payton Boyd, Mid-Pacific
Preston Branco, Honokaa
Tony Connors, Honokaa
Aukana'i Kapu, Honokaa
Nakaiya Kerr, Christian Liberty
Louis Moylan, Christian Liberty
Dane Nitta, Mid-Pacific
Kai Umeda, Mid-Pacific
Goalkeeper: Andrew Musgrave, Mid-Pacific
Most Oustanding Player: Brandon Ho, Mid-Pacific