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Stacy Kaneshiro | ScoringLiveJanuary 14, 2017, 6:09pm
Sat, Jan 14, 2017 @ Punahou
MAKIKI – When two of the stingiest defenses in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu meet, don't expect much scoring.
Yet, Iolani managed to find the back of the net twice in edging Punahou, 2-1, Saturday at Alexander Field.
The Raiders (8-0-2, 26 points) kicked their way into first place in ILH Division I. The Buffanblu (8-1-1, 25 points) fell into a tie for second with Kamehameha (8-1-1).
Kylee Kim-Bustillos scored in the 10th minute to give Iolani a 1-0 lead at the half. Punahou's Lauren Mukaigawa tied the game in the 61st minute on a free kick, only to see the Raiders retake the lead on Shantel Torres-Benito's goal four minutes later.
With a single point separating the top three teams with two games left, each controls its fate, as Kamehameha visits Punahou on Tuesday and hosts Iolani on Jan. 21. Only two will earn state berths for the Division I tournament.
Even a tie would have kept Punahou on top of the standings.
"Any goal against (us) and any loss is hard," Punahou coach Starr Johnson said. "Definitely, we need to regroup. Luckily, we have the opportunity. We're still in control of our future. We're disappointed in today, but we knew coming in we had a lot of adversity, so we're proud of our team for giving everything they had."
The Buffanblu were without a number of starters either to injury or illnesses. Among them was last year's All-Hawaii midfielder True Dydasco (illness), described as a playmaker and field leader by Johnson.
Punahou and Iolani entered the game having allowed only two goals each. The Raiders allowed single goals in 1-1 ties with Punahou and Kamehameha. The Buffanblu had given up their other goal in a 2-1 win against Kamehameha.
"We knew it was going to be a tough competition," said senior Shantel Torres-Benito, who scored the go-ahead goal. "I'm happy with our team, but I feel we need more work to put in to get us ready."
Iolani struck first on a bang-bang play at the 10-minute mark. Freshman forward Mia Watanabe took a close shot that ricocheted off the right upright back to her. Instead of taking another shot with keeper Sunny Kane already in position near the upright, Watanabe passed the ball toward Kim-Bustillo, also an All-Hawaii midfielder from a year ago, and booted the ball in from six yards.
"She saw I was open – she has really good vision – and passed it to me, " said Kim-Bustillos of Watanabe.
It was Kim-Bustillos' team-leading 18th goal of the season.
The Buffanblu tied the game a 1 at in the 61st minute when Mukaigawa, Punahou's leading scorer with 10 goals entering the game, drilled a free kick just inside the right upright from 27 yards out.
The Raiders regained the lead four minutes later on Torres-Benito's open shot from three yards.
Iolani was threatening inside the goal area before a Punahou defender cleared the ball. But Raiders gained control again, catching the keeper out of position to defend the shot.
"I saw Sam (Masca) kick it over to Mia (Watanabe), when I saw her running, I checked to the ball so I made sure I was open and then Mia hit a nice slot back to me and I just touched it," Torres-Benito said.
Each goal required a lot of second effort by Iolani.
"We've been working on a lot of finishing," Iolani coach Kristin Masunaga said. "We didn't want a tie. We had to win so we had to score goals."
Torres-Benito usually plays defense, but Masunaga put her up front.
"We needed goals," Masunaga said.
The Raiders also played well defensively, staying step-for-step on breakaways and breaking up crosses fronting the goal to make it difficult for the Buffanblu to get uncontested shots.
"Our two center backs are solid," Masunaga said. "Kelsey Wong, she's a freshman and Cambrie (Motooka), they did a good job of directing because we have different (players) coming in from the outsides. I think they anchored our defense."
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