Hawaiian Electric Game of the Week
Na Alii, Chargers to square off for OIA crown




The end of the regular season didn't quite go as planned for the seventh-ranked Aiea girls soccer team, but that's all in the past now.

Since its 1-0 loss to Waipahu 10 days ago, Aiea has reeled off three wins in four days this week and finds itself with a shot to bring home the third league championship in program history and its first since 2005.

All that stands in their way? Fourth-ranked Pearl City.

The Oahu Interscholastic Association season comes to a close Saturday night when the Western Division powers square off at Kaiser Stadium in the title game of the 12-team league tournament.

Kickoff between Na Alii (11-2) and the Chargers (10-1-1) is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.

Backtrack two Tuesdays ago and Aiea saw a golden opportunity to lock up the West's top seed and a first-round bye in the OIA tournament slip through its hands against the Marauders.

"Definitely we were disappointed in that, but we're always looking ahead at the big picture and it actually turned out perfect with the way that loss set us up for this week," Na Alii coach Benji Villaflor said.

The loss knocked Aiea from first place down to the third seed, which meant having to play in Monday's first round. A loss there would have brought a promising season to an abrupt end, but Villaflor's team managed to rebound with a 2-0 win over East sixth seed Kahuku.

The following day it rallied with a pair of second-half goals by Savannah Breeze Miranda to knock off eighth-ranked Kaiser, 2-1, in the quarterfinals — the same team that eliminated Na Alii from championship contention in both the OIA and state tournaments last season.

"We were able to avenge those losses to Kaiser and then by winning that game we came across Mililani and everybody knows that Mililani was the top dogs, not just in the OIA, but in the state," Villaflor said.

Aiea's regular season began against the Trojans and resulted in a 3-0 loss — it then went on to win its next eight games before the loss to Waipahu — but Thursday night's rematch against Mililani was an opportunity that Na Alii made good on.

Nicole Olanda's goal on a free kick in the 22nd minute was all Aiea needed to dethrone the reigning three-time OIA champions.

"That was our championship game," Villaflor said of the win over No. 3 Mililani. "We had to give everything we had in that game."

While it will be his team's fourth game in a span of six days, Villaflor is optimistic that Thursday's victory will give Aiea momentum going into Saturday's final.

"Oh, one-hundred percent," he said. "To beat Mililani, an awesome team like that with all the awesome players they have, that's definitely going to give us momentum, but fatigue is definitely a factor. That's a lot of games for these girls to play and it definitely takes a toll on their bodies."

However, Na Alii will likely have to do it without their leading scorer in sophomore Sheyliene Patolo, whose 11 goals are tied for the eighth most in the OIA this season. Patolo suffered a knee injury against Kahuku on Monday and did not play against both Kaiser and Mililani.

"We would love to have her, but not at the expense of her health and her safety," Villaflor said of Patolo. "She's got a bright future ahead of her — two more years — so if she cannot play (Saturday), she'll definitely have her time (in the future), but we're hoping she'll be there tomorrow night."

The Chargers, who are the West's No. 2 seed and are riding a six-game win streak, may also be without a few key players Saturday due to injury. Forward Sunshine Fontes and goalkeeper Naomi Takata each left Thursday night's semifinal win over East top seed Moanalua and did not return.

Fontes, who has netted a state-best 24 goals this year, went down with an apparent knee injury after scoring the equalizer against Na Menehune in the 36th minute of a wild first half that saw the teams combine for four goals.

Pearl City eventually went on to win in penalty kicks to hand sixth-ranked Moanalua its first loss of the season.

"Five freshmen played in the game (Thursday) night, so that was a positive thing," Chargers coach Frank Baumholtz III said. "Unfortunately, got hurt, our goalie (Takata) got hurt — she split her lip on a collision blocking a breakaway — so both are going to the doctor (Friday) and so we'll have to wait and see what they say.

Baumholtz said that while he's unsure of the extend of the injury to Fontes — who is the all-time leading scorer for the U.S. U-17 girls national team with 22 career goals and is signed to play for UCLA next year — he does not expect the senior standout to be able to play against Aiea Saturday.

"It would be a miracle if she played in the state tournament (in two weeks), so I don't see her playing (Saturday) at all. It's a shame because she's such a great kid," said Baumholtz, whose team had a bye in Monday's first round before beating West sixth seed Kapolei in Tuesday's quarterfinal round, 3-1.

However, it's not an entirely unfamiliar position for the Chargers, who were without Fontes for the state tournament last year while she was playing with the national team.

"At any given time, any team can lose one of (its) top players and somebody has to step up and take their place, so this group of kids have to come together, go out there and leave it all out on the field," Baumholtz said. "Once you cross that white line, you don't want to have any regrets once that last whistle blows."

The Chargers will be trying for their first league title since 2014 and ninth overall.

Aiea defeated Pearl City by a score of 1-0 on an Olanda goal in the 27th minute when the teams faced off in the regular season back on Dec. 7.

"Aiea is a special place, a small community, and pretty much if you come out for your team at Aiea, you're gonna make it (because) we don't cut players. We barely have enough to play sometimes, so our players know that and they know what they represent — they represent the little guy — so puts a little chip on their shoulder, too," Villaflor said.

Saturday's championship game will follow the D2 final between Waianae and Kalaheo at 5 p.m.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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