Hawaiian Electric Game of the Week
Top-ranked Chargers to host No. 3 Trojans in key OIA West match




A pair of familiar foes will cross paths in a key Oahu Interscholastic Association girls soccer match Friday night.

The Western Division showdown features host Pearl City, the No. 1 team in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Power Rankings, taking on No. 3 Mililani in a battle of undefeated teams.

Kickoff between the Chargers (2-0) and Trojans (3-0) is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Pearl City's Bino Neves Stadium.

Mililani swept all three meetings against Pearl City last season, including a pair of tight postseason wins. The teams played in both the OIA Division I final and the third-place match of the state tournament — both resulting in 1-0 wins for the Trojans.

Whatsmore, the teams have already met twice this year, splitting a pair of preseason games.

"We are in the process of playing them for the third of five times this season," longtime Chargers coach Frank Baumholtz III joked.

"Every year the championship goes through Mililani at some point in time."

The Trojans have won the last two league titles. Eight of their 16 OIA championships have come under coach Ray Akiona.

"I don't think there is a team that you can take lightly or kind of just back off. I think you have to be totally prepared for almost any team now, so we've got to have our best game and we've got to be ready for these string of games," said Akiona, whose team also plays Kapolei (3-0) and Waipahu (2-1) in the coming week.

"Pearl City is always going to be the team that everybody wants to go for. They had great talent last year and I think they're even better this year," Akiona said.

After going 11-5-1 last season, the Chargers have posted a pair of 15-0 wins over Waianae and Radford to start this year.

Senior forward Daelenn Tokunaga has recorded a hat trick in both games and leads the team in scoring. She and fellow First Team All-Hawaii selection Sunshine Fontes each scored 19 goals last season, but Fontes will not play Friday because she is out of town for a prior obligation.

"She's on a national team trip at the moment and won't be back until next week, so she's a substitute and she fits in wherever we need her and she's taken that role on," Baumholtz said.

The Chargers have had plenty of offensive firepower without Fontes. Baumholtz expects big things from a trio of freshmen in Ysabel Aburto, Kaila Takai and Soraya Santos.

"They're hard working and all three of them are just going after it — that's why they're starters," said Baumholtz, whose roster includes a dozen seniors.

"We're a good, quality team and they're working hard. I enjoy working with them and so far, it's a normal, challenging season," Baumholtz said.

Mililani is coming off a 13-1-2 season — its lone loss came in the state semifinals against Iolani — and saw three of its top four goal scorers graduate, including First Team All-Hawaii midfielder Randi Macadangdang (team-high 10 goals scored last season).

However, the Trojans return a pair of All-Hawaii defenders in Karlin Wurlitzer and Jodi Lillie, along with four-year starting goalkeeper Andrea Kenagy to solidy the back third.

"They're both strong individuals that really work well with a lot of the underclassmen, but they bring that experience with them and they only support the underclassmen, which is really good because they're leaders and they're also mentoring these younger ones and they're forming a good bond back there, so we're very happy," Akiona said of Wurlitzer and Lillie, both three-year starters.

Offensively, Akiona expects the scoring to be distributed amongst a number of players.

Senior midfielder/forward Tehani Furuta has found the back of the net in all three games and has scored a team-high five goals.

A trio of sophomores in Jaylen Lum, Amber Tadeo-Gilbert and Meagan Tamashiro, along with freshman Ali Fuamatu-Maafala, will see plenty of action.

"They're new to the team but not new to playing some advance-level soccer," Akiona said. "Those four new ones bring with them a lot of talent, and young talent that can compete at the level they're at."

Akiona put the onus on his defense to keep Tokunaga and the Chargers at bay Friday night.

"I know Pearl City will be ready. They're always well-prepared for us, so we've got to be very focused from the beginning because if you allow Pearl City to get a lead on you, it's very difficult to catch up, so that's our main focus. We've got to be ready from the beginning and focus on them defensively first," Akiona said.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




Show your support

Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.

Please consider making a contribution today.

ADVERTISEMENT


MORE STORIES

Punahou continues unbeaten streak, hands Kamehameha second straight loss

Third-ranked Warriors suffered consecutive losses in the regular season for the first time since 2017.

No. 4 Iolani rallies to hand No. 1 Kamehameha first ILH loss

Ethan Akagi and CJ Taira scored the winning runs for the Raiders off a wild pitch to hand the top-ranked...

Punahou pulls away from PAC-5 to notch first ILH win

The Buffanblu ended a five-game skid and broke into the win column to keep the Wolfpack winless in the...

Kalani's Nishigaya headlines All-OIA East selections

Forward/midfielder Kaiulani Nishigaya helped lift Falcons to first-ever league title; Kaiser's Noelani...

Trojans' Fuamatu-Maafala leads All-OIA West picks

Mililani's Iai Fuamatu-Maafala named Player of the Year; Campbell's James Curran named coach of the year.

Knights' Turcios named All-OIA East player of the year

Damon Turcios lone Castle player named to first team; Kailua's Joseph Wood named coach of the year.