HHSAA Girls Soccer
No. 4 Iolani pulls away from No. 7 Hilo


  



Thu, Feb 8, 2018 @ Waipio


Final 1st 2nd OT 2OT PK Tot
Iolani (14-3-1) 1 3 - - - 4
Hilo (12-3-1) 0 1 - - - 1
M. Watanabe (10', 74')   H. Miyasato (48')   S. Asselbaye (79')   M. Lee (50')

WAIPAHU — Mia Watanabe scored one goal in each half to help No. 4 Iolani power past No. 7 Hilo, 4-1, in a quarterfinal match of The Queen's Medical Center/HHSAA Division I Girls Soccer State Championships at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium Thursday afternoon.

The defending state champion Raiders (12-3-1) advanced to Friday's semifinal round, where they will face No. 2 Mililani at 5 p.m. at the main stadium.

The third-seeded Vikings (11-2-1), winners of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, suffered their first loss since Dec. 2. They had a string of 12 consecutive games without a defeat.

After going scoreless for all 100 minutes before edging past Moanalua in a length penalty shootout in Monday's first round of the tournament, Iolani got on the board early Thursday.

Watanabe gave Iolani a lead just 10 minutes into the contest off an assist from Cecilia Jenkins.

"I saw it come over the defender and I just made sure that I could get a touch on it," said Watanabe, a sophomore forward.

Raiders coach Kristin Masunaga couldn't help but feel a sense of relief after Watanabe's goal.

"You know what, I forgot what the feeling was like it's been such a lone time," Masunaga joked. "But obviously that really changes how we play and our confidence. Just mentally being up 1-0 you can do things that you can't do when it's 0-0 or you're down."

The score held until the 48th minute, when Haley Miyasato netted the equalizer for Hilo. However, less than two minutes later, Marea Lee put the Raiders back ahead with her team-leading eighth goal of the year.

"Taylor (Arakaki) threw it in again and I saw it coming over the defense, so I touched it with my left foot and then I shot it in with my right to the corner," sophomore midfielder/forward.

Lee's goal halted any momentum the Vikings had picked up.

"That was huge," Masunaga said. "I mean, we've had opportunities like that before but we weren't able to put them away, but today she was able to put it away."

Iolani added a couple of insurance goals late. Watanabe scored off another throw-in from Arakaki in the 74th minute and Sasha Asselbaye converted a penalty kick five minutes later to close out the scoring.

"It felt amazing. I was happy to be able to finish it for this team," said Watanabe, who has verbally committed to Stanford. "We've all been working really hard this season and to get the results that we deserve, it feels good."

Goalkeeper Saydee Bacdad made seven saves for Hilo. Musuai Isaia posted three stops for Iolani.

The Raiders, who finished second in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu this season, will play in their fourth consecutive semifinals. They defeated Mililani in the same round last year, behind a hat trick from Watanabe, en route to capturing their fifth state crown.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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