First-place Punahou can build on its six-point lead over Iolani in the ILH's Division I standings with a win Friday afternoon. ScoringLive photo illustration

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The first half of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu season has been quite contrasting for the Punahou and Iolani girls soccer teams.

The first-place Buffanblu (5-0-1) sit alone atop the four-team ILH Division I standings, six points ahead of the Raiders (3-1-1), who are tied with Kamehameha (3-0-1) for third place.

Punahou coach Shelley Izuno said the key factor to her team's success so far has been its positive chemistry.

"I'd say that's definitely the biggest difference this year. It's been the best year in terms of chemistry and just understanding what it takes to get where we want to go," said Izuno, who is in her third season in charge of the program.

She added, "I think it's kind of a selfless attitude, like playing for the greater good as opposed to individual play. I think it's more of a team effort when we play and I think you can see that when you watch them play."

Izuno said the end goal is clear and one that the Buffanblu have not yet achieved during her tenure: qualify for the state tournament. She credits her senior class of nine — most notably four-year varsity players Legacy Kalua and Taylor Matsubara, whose first season for the Buffanblu back in 2017 ended with a 2-1 loss to Iolani in the state championship match — for taking the lead.

"They were freshmen on that team that went to states four years ago, so they've been there and their goal is to get back there," Izuno said of Kalua and Matsubara, who play opposite of each other as the two outside-backs.

The pair bring consistent play on the pitch and leadership, each in their own way.

"They have kind of have opposite personalities. Legacy is a little bit more vocal, she'll kind of fire up the team and Taylor is a little bit more of a quieter influence," Izuno said. "But the seniors as a whole, they have a goal and they're set on it and we deal with a lot of distractions during the winter season at Punahou, so they just seem to be all on the same page, going in the same direction."

That team-wide engagement was transparent over the winter break, which proved to be an efficient one for the Buffanblu, who ascended to No. 1 in this week's ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Power Rankings.

"The break was actually awesome for us. Normally it's challenging dealing with kids going to the beach or doing whatever they're doing on break, but they're just really focused and the break was actually really productive for us," said Izuno, whose team will have played just one game in a span of 21 days by the time it visits No. 9 Iolani Friday afternoon.

While Punahou has been operating at a high level, the Raiders, by their own standards, have sputtered out of the gate. Their last two games before the winter break resulted in a 1-1 tie against the Buffanblu's varsity II team and a 3-0 defeat at Kamehameha.

"It's probably the worst we've started out," said Iolani coach Kristin Masunaga, who has led the team to state titles in 2013, 2017 and 2018.

Masunaga is not particularly fond of the lengthy layoff.

"I don't think anybody likes that two-and-a-half weeks of no games; I think it's something that perhaps (should change), I don't know who makes the that decision. Because it's hard to come out to practice every day for three weeks, we had an alumni game. We tried to get some alumni to come out so that we could just play. They ran fitness with the girls and pushed them a little," Masunaga said.

While the Raiders kick-started 2020 with a 2-0 win over PAC-5 Tuesday afternoon, the execution was not to Masunaga's liking.

"We have to play better. When we played PAC-5 we didn't really play well; it was zero-zero at the half, we were lucky to get out two-zero," Masunaga said. "We were creating a lot of opportunities, but we were missing one-v-ones with the keeper and you're not gonna win games that way. I think we need to finish our opportunities."

The shutout at the hands of the Warriors on Dec. 19 gave Masunaga's squad much to ponder over the holidays. At the same time, it lessened the Raiders' margin for error with the ILH opting to go to away from a second-round, single-elimination tournament this season. Instead, the top two teams in points after the 10-game regular season will earn the league's two spots in February's state tournament.

"It just puts a little more pressure on us that it's now like must-wins versus giving us a little bit of leeway for ties, so they understand that in order to win we have to score. That's something that we've always struggled with, but even moreso this year," Masunaga said.

Despite losing stalwarts and starting outside-backs Taylor Arakaki and Taylor "TV" Venenciano to graduation, Masunaga believes the defense is the strength of this year's team.

"But even if defense is our strength, we can't score at this point," Masunaga said.

Senior forward Sasha Asselbaye leads the team in scoring with three goals on the year, followed by junior Ali Yoshida's two.

Masunaga made heavy personnel changes after her team fell behind 1-0 against Kamehameha.

"Friday we might make some more (changes) and move some people around since obviously what we've been doing hasn't really been working," she said. "But also we've had a stomach flu going around, a lot of people have been sick, we've had concussions, so it's been a lot of obstacles."

Izuno and the Buffanblu, however, refuse to look past the Raiders.

"We need to win and we've made it a point to focus on not taking anyone lightly, no matter who it is and just understanding that anything can happen and every single minute of the game we have to play like that's the game that decides their season, so that's kind of the attitude that we're taking on Friday," Izuno said.

Both teams have managed to spread out the goal scoring. A pair of forwards in junior Allison Little and freshman Brooke Bailey lead Punahou with four goals apiece, while senior midfielder Kelsey Shintaku and junior outside-back Jordan Lau have netted three goals each.

Izuno said it speaks to the depth of talent on this year's team.

"This is probably the first year, more than my other two years that I have been here that it's hard to say ‘second string,' because anyone who doesn't start can come off the bench and change the game, so it's a huge game-changer for me in terms of depth, so that's been nice to have and getting as much players, if not all of the kids, into the game," Izuno said.

Masunaga took in Punahou's game against Kamehameha, which resulted in the lone blemish on its record: a scoreless tie.

"I think they're a typical Punahou team. I think they're aggressive, obviously they can score goals and I think they're physical," Masunaga said of the Buffanblu, who have yet to allow a goal in ILH play.

Izuno praised the work of Lau, along with third-year varsity player Taryn Kaneko — one of three senior captains — for anchoring the defense. She also noted the play of junior Tiani Wayton and sophomore Kylie Pascual, who have shared goalkeeping duties.

It will take a team effort to beat the Raiders, Izuno said.

"They're obviously very strong with their large class of seniors and experienced and their midfield and their offense is very talented, so we know it's always a tough game against them and everybody plays their best against us, so we just hope to show that we want it more and out-hustle them," Izuno said. "But these games (against Iolani) always feel like championship games."

Kickoff at Eddie Hamada Track and Field at Kozuki Stadium Friday is scheduled for 4:15 p.m.