The Kaiser Cougars celebrate after knocking off ILH champ and second-seeded Iolani, 2-1, Thursday night. Michael Lasquero | SL

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Thu, Feb 9, 2017 @ Waipio

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Kaiser

2

Iolani

1

Final	1st	2nd	OT	2OT	PK	Tot
Kaiser (14-2-1)	2	0	-	-	-	2
Iolani (10-3-2)	0	1	-	-	-	1

M. Srivongsana (31')   T. Shimomoto (45')   H. Yamanaka (12')

WAIPAHU — By the time it took to the pitch Thursday night, Kaiser's hunger was palpable.

The Cougars satiated that hunger with a stunning 2-1 upset of second-seeded Iolani in the quarterfinals of the Queen's Medical Center/HHSAA Division I Boys Soccer State Championships before a crowd of about 500 spectators on a chilly evening at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.

Hunter Yamanaka and Makana Srivongsana each scored a goal in the first half and goalkeeper Brandon Yasue made nine saves to lift Kaiser (13-1-1) to its third straight win and into Friday's semifinal round.

"It feels amazing. We haven't been this far in my four years, so it feels amazing," said Yamanaka, a senior midfielder. "We had a lot of confidence. We were ready for this game. We were preparing for it all week, we knew who our opponent was and we knew how good they were and we were mentally and physically ready."

The Cougars came out like gangbusters to start the game, which was a pleasant surprise to first-year coach Layne Abalos.

"This was the first time they came out playing confident — the first time," Abalos said. "We did well. They want to win and they want to move on and they did it."

It took only 12 minutes for Kaiser to get on the board. Yamanaka's sliding shot attempt slipped past Iolani goalkeeper Kaisen Nakagawa and into the right side of the goal for his fourth goal of the year and first of the postseason.

"Throughout the week my coaches have been telling me to ‘always go for it when you see the opportunity,' and when I had the ball I saw the opening and I just went for it," Yamanaka said.

Kaiser appeared to take a two-goal lead just minutes later when Srivongsana got behind the Iolani defense and scored from close range, however, he was ruled offsides and the goal did not count.

Srivongsana made sure the next one did.

The sophomore forward netted his team-leading 21st goal of the season — and third of the state tournament — on a header in the 31st minute. Srivongsana was situated near the top of the 6-yard box when he flicked a free kick from Motoki Sato over his right shoulder and into the right side of the goal.

"That was the best half we probably played the whole season," Abalos said. "We played really tough. The boys came out and they brought it."

Srivongsana said Kaiser created its own first-half opportunities via defensive pressure.

"We gave it all we had. We pressured them hard at the beginning," Srivongsana said. "At the beginning of the season we kind of came out high-pressing. We kind of slowed down during the season, but we noticed that every time we high-press at the beginning, our game comes out good."

The Cougars saw their 2-0 halftime lead cut in half five minutes into the second half.

Freshman midfielder Cole Motooka made a run with the ball down near the end line on the left flank. He then sent a cross across the 6-yard box and over to a sliding Tanner Shimomoto, who snuck the ball just inside of the right post and into the back of the net. It was the senior midfielder's team-leading 13th goal.

The Raiders continued to put the pressure on the Kaiser defense and Yasue, but to no avail.

Alex Liu couldn't capitalize on a free kick after a Kaiser foul in the 68th minute. Liu's 45-yard try was a laser beam of a shot, but it was a few feet too high and went over the crossbar.

Iolani's best chance at a second goal came in the 72nd minute. A handball against Kaiser in its own 18-yard box awarded Shimomoto with a penalty kick. However, his shot was deflected by Yasue, who also rejected an ensuing try on the rebound.

"Brandon did a terrific job; He saved us on that last PK," Srivongsana said. "I was confident because we did PKs yesterday in practice and he was stopping a lot of them."

Yasue, a 5-foot-11 junior, made seven saves after halftime.

"I keep saying it all the time: Brandon is the best in the state," Abalos said. "Yes, he's on my team. Yes, I'm biased, but this is not the first time he has blocked a PK. He's done it in games, he does it practice, we work on it with him and he's a wall — he's our savior. He's always forgotten back there, but he's always done the job."

All but two of Iolani's 17 shots were on goal.

Kaiser, which finished third in the Oahu Interscholastic Association, was coming off a 6-0 win at Hilo in Monday's first round.

Abalos said having a game under their belts put the Cougars at ease right off the bat against the Raiders Thursday.

"Definitely. The bye probably would have made us more hungry and more excited," Abalos said. "I think playing Monday was a big relief. We had a good game. We actually played really well also on Monday."

The Cougars could only sit and watch as the quarterfinal before theirs — Mililani-Baldwin — went scoreless through eighty minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods before finally ending after six rounds of penalty kicks.

Instead of a negative effect, Abalos said it played right into his team's hands.

"I think it made them more hungry. I think they saw what they have to do to win and they brought it out," Abalos said.

Kaiser will meet Maui Interscholastic League titlist and third-seeded Baldwin in the 7 p.m. championship semifinal Friday, which will be preceded by the early semifinal between ILH runner-up Punahou and top-seeded Kapolei at 5 p.m.

The Interscholastic League of Honolulu-champion Raiders saw their four-match win streak snapped and fell to 10-2-2. They will play OIA runner-up Mililani in a fifth-place semifinal Friday.