Kamehameha keeper Caela Kaio came into goal in the second half to preserve the Warriors' shutout win. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Caela Kaio has the gift of gab in goal for the Kamehameha girls soccer team.

The senior goalkeeper came up clutch between the posts Wednesday in the second half of the Warriors' 1-0 win over host Iolani in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I opener for both teams.

Despite a scoreless first half, the defending state champion Raiders controlled much of the possession and had a distinct shot advantage.

Kaio, who entered the game to start the second half in relief of starter Chaylea Tome, prepared herself mentally during halftime.

"I think the most important thing that I told myself to do was to just talk to them, because it really helps," Kaio said of her teammates, "I can see everything that they can't see. Everything is in front of me, but for most of them there's stuff going on behind them, so for me the biggest thing is just talking to them and just letting them know what they can't see and just helping them out."

Kamehameha coach Melissa Moore praised Kaio's vocal leadership.

"She's playing really well for us with a lot of confidence. We like her back there," Moore said. "She talks a lot to our defense and gets us organized, so it's nice. She's doing a good job."

Kaio registered five saves, but none of them bigger than the one she made in the 75th minute. With her team nursing a one-goal lead — thanks for Caili Cain's one-timer six minutes prior — Kaio made a leaping stop on a shot from distance by Iolani's Kelsey Wong that was headed for the top left corner of the goal.

About five minutes after that, the final whistle was blown and the Warriors escaped with a hard-fought victory.

"It's huge. We've been waiting for this game, we've been training hard all this preseason and this is the best way possible to start this season," Kaio said.

The win served as a payback of sorts from a preseason loss to the Raiders in the finals of the Castle-Leilehua tournament back in mid-November.

Iolani beat Kamehameha in that game in penalty kicks. Kaio played in the field during the first half, but was in goal for both the second half and PKs.

"We only had 13 players, so Chaylea was in the goal for the first half and I was on the field," Kaio recalled. "We had to sub in forwards because we were playing 40-minutes halves so our forwards couldn't go, so I played forward first half and then we switched and Chaylea played forward in the second half. That game, it was sad that we lost, but it just gave us more motivation to beat them on their field."

Moore said with both teams missing a number of key players due to injuries, the preseason meeting was not a great indication of what to expect Wednesday.

"I think we were both playing with like 12 players — I had to throw goalies on the field to play because I didn't have enough players — so I think with that said, I don't think it really helped us get a true picture of what we were gonna face today," Moore said.

Still, the loss provided Kaio all the motivation she needed.

"I think about it all the time that we went to PKs against them before and that if I'm ever in the goal when we take PKs against them again, I'm sure that I'm gonna get to them," Kaio said.

Moore described the entire preseason as an inconsistent one for her team.

"Very inconsistent, I would say. We had some very good games and we had some not so very good games. We looked very organized at times and then we looked like we didn't know what we were doing at times, so I would say very inconsistent preseason," Moore said.

Some of that is to be expected with a team that saw a large number of contributors graduate last spring, including its entire midfield, most notably All-Hawaii second teasers Rachael Tagatauli and Brende Yoshizumi, along with honorable mention selection Kylie Minamishin.

"We lost a lot of really good players last year," Moore said. "We have a lot of nice, good freshmen that came up, but again we're young there, but we gotta work through this somehow."

Kamehameha also played without the services of two of its top returnees Wednesday in forward Leah Feato and sweeper Tausani Tavale, a first team All-Hawaii performer last year — both of whom are currently injured. Tavale is not expected to return this season due to a torn ACL and meniscus.

Kaio praised the work of senior Hayley Silipa, who has emerged as a reliable defender in Tauvale's absence.

"In the beginning of the season we were definitely winging it. We were trying to figure it out, we were putting all kinds of players back there trying to figure out who fits and we found that Hayley does the job," Kaio said. "She's actually a forward coming into the season, but we put her back there and it's worked out. Losing Tausani was definitely hard and it set us back a little, but I think we figured it out."

The victory over the Raiders was a step in the right direction, to be sure.

"We graduated so much last year, so we're still trying to figure it out, but I think we definitely showed some progress today with how we played in the second half," Kaio said.

The Warriors (1-0) next play Saturday against Le Jardin. Kick off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Kunuiakea Stadium.