Kapolei's Tommy Mascaro-Keahi (12) celebrates after scoring a hat trick late in the 78th minute extending the lead to 5-0, and helping the Hurricanes to back-to-back OIA league titles. CJ Caraang | SL

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Sat, Feb 1, 2020 @ Kapolei

---

Kalani

0

Kapolei

5

Final	1st	2nd	OT	2OT	PK	Tot
Kalani (13-4-1)	0	0	-	-	-	0
Kapolei (14-1-1)	3	2	-	-	-	5

T. Mascaro-Keahi (7', 26', 78’)   M. Ohara (25’)   K. Kelii (59’)

KAPOLEI — This one was a category five win for the Kapolei boys soccer team.

The Hurricanes got a hat trick from Tommy Mascaro-Keahi and stormed their way to their fifth league title with a 5-0 win over Kalani Saturday night. A crowd of about 300 fans at Kapolei's Alvin Nagasako Sports Complex saw the home team successfully defend their Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I championship in convincing fashion on a chilly evening in west Oahu.

Kapolei (12-0-1), ranked second in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Power Rankings and the top seed out of the Western Division in the 12-team OIA tournament, will have a first-round bye as the No. 2 overall seed in The Queen's Medical Center/HHSAA State Championships in two weeks.

Mascaro-Keahi, a senior forward signed with Cal State Northridge, scored in the seventh, 26th and 78th minutes for his state-leading 20th, 21st and 22nd goals of the season. It was the fifth time he has scored at least three goals in a game.

The Hurricanes recorded their second shut out in three nights. It was the 10th time they held an opponent scoreless this season and the seventh time they won by a margin of five-or-more goals.

"It says that our team doesn't give up," Mascaro-Keahi said. "Man, our players eat, like, they will literally go to the last second and that's what we're trained to do; every practice is a golden goal, we always run it to the end. I don't care what the score is, you can always get another."

Kapolei co-coach Ryan Lau said he knew that his team was ready to go during the pre-game warm-up period.

"We weren't expecting the result, but we knew what we were capable of and we knew we were going to put a good foot forward tonight. The boys were ready, they were prepared and we just had a good feeling that we were gonna come out and play well," Lau said.

It was Kalani's first defeat since Dec. 11 and the first time it had been held without a goal all season.

"We were looking for a hard-fought game. Kalani, hats off to them, they had a good run through the OIA and they're a solid team," Lau said. "As far as the result, we made the most of our opportunities and that's what the game of soccer is about; You gotta make the most of your opportunities and you gotta seize the moment and I thought we did a good job of seizing the moment."

The Hurricanes put the pressure on the Falcons early and often. They drew their first corner kick within five minutes, which led to a couple of chances on headers that missed wide of the goal. However, Mascaro-Keahi managed to take possession of the ball in the seventh minute and split a pair of Kalani defenders, before putting away a right-footed shot into the left side of the netting.

"Honestly, I was just thinking ‘this can help my team a lot and if I can put this away and it's gonna relieve some of our pressure,' just to finally get that breaking point of where we need to get one, but honestly, I couldn't have done it without any of my teammates, they're the reason that I got that goal," Mascaro-Keahi said.

In the 25th minute, Cypress Navarro-Acio made a run down the left flank before sending a cross to the middle of the 6-yard box and Micah Ohara managed to get a foot on it to redirect past Kalani goalkeeper Yuito Mori for his fourth goal of the season.

"I think what we've been working on this year is when we do win (a ball), how quickly we transition and get a goal-scoring opportunity, we have a mantra of within five seconds can we get in the final third and get a goal-scoring opportunity?," Lau said. "Part of our game plan tonight, we wanted to get Cypress forward more. We didn't really get a chance too much, but the one time when he finally got forward we made the most of it, so that was great to see that we took advantage of the situation and we played quickly on that one."

While Lau applauded Navarro-Acio's quick decision-making with the cross, Mascaro-Keahi credited Ohara for finishing the play.

"Micah's goal, that was a beautiful goal. He knew his run, he knew exactly what he was supposed to do and he was there. We train day-in and day-out on where we're supposed to end up and Micah just got it — he was there — and I think any of our boys would have been there, too, because they know that the runs that we make, it's their job to get at the end of it," Mascaro-Keahi said.

Just a minute after Ohara's goal, Mascaro-Keahi took advantage of a misplayed ball by Mori for his second goal of the night.

"It was a play over the defensive line by Hunter (Hoogenwurf) and it bounced and I saw the keeper come he was jumping way too early and it bounced right in front of him and it bounced over his head and the defender ran past me and I headed it in the back post and it bounced in," said Mascaro-Keahi, a First Team All-Hawaii selection last year.

Kapolei led 3-0 at halftime, but Kalani threatened with three corner kicks in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Ultimately, the Falcons failed to recycle any of them into a shot on goal.

The Hurricanes' back line of outside backs Micah Fonoti and Navarro-Acio, and particularly center-backs Dedric Tolentino and Noah Anderson, drew the praise of their coach.

Lau pointed to the team's participation in the prestigious Western Showcase in San Clemente, California back in December — where the ‘Canes went 0-3 against some of the top teams in California and Arizona — as a turning point for the unit.

"Those guys came a long way and it started back, like I said, the best thing that happened to us was the San Clemente trip in California. I think we started to somewhat form the partnership there and I think it gave us a lot of confidence that moving forward we could grow with them and we could allow Joe (Wren) to play the (defensive midfield position) and then they just grew and it's been a great partnership," Lau said. "They take defending seriously and especially keeping clean sheets and they play very simple, but they play very assertive and our defense is really doing well this year."

Kapolei added to its lead in the 59th minute on Kawika Kelii's penalty kick and again in the closing minutes, when Mascaro-Keahi completed his hat trick by converting another PK.

"I think we're very hungry. We have an approach that we take in day-in and day-out: we want to be better today than we were yesterday," Lau said. "It was a total team effort — the team was the star. We did an outstanding job and hats off to our whole team; it took the whole team to do an outstanding job."

The Hurricanes became the first team to successfully defend their OIA D1 title since Mililani in 2013.

But their eyes remain focused on the larger prize: a first-ever state championship.

"It feels great to have that accomplishment that we just did this, but it's not what makes our team. We have a lot more to work on and a lot more to figure out before states, that's what we're looking forward to. We can enjoy this in the moment now, but it's not gonna last forever, so we gotta focus on what's next," Mascaro-Keahi said.

Kalani (11-2-1), which saw its eight-game win streak come to an end, will open the state tournament against OIA sixth-place finisher Pearl City in a first-round game on Feb. 10 at a site and time to be determined.

Kapolei will play the winner between Kamehameha-Maui and Mililani in a 5 p.m. quarterfinal on Feb. 13 at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex main stadium.