Sophomore Ui Kaaihue (right) netted the match-deciding score in the 79th minute in battle of unbeatens. Spencer Honda | SL

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Thu, Feb 6, 2020 @ Waipio

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Punahou

0

Kekaulike

1

Final	1st	2nd	OT	2OT	PK	Tot
Punahou (8-2-3)	0	0	-	-	-	0
Kekaulike (11-1-1)	0	1	-	-	-	1

K. Kaaihue (79’)

In a quarterfinal matchup between two unbeaten teams, a penalty kick shootout seemed almost inevitable.

Turns out only one PK was needed to decide the outcome.

Sophomore Ui Kaaihue's PK in the 79th minute broke a scoreless stalemate as eight-ranked Kekaulike handed No. 2 Punahou its first loss of the season with a 1-0 win at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex Thursday afternoon.

Na Alii (10-0-1), the third-seeded team in the Queen's Medical Center Division I Girls Soccer Championships, will meet No. 7 Pearl City in the second D1 semifinal in the complex's main stadium. Match time is slated for 7 p.m.

"It feels so amazing to finally win and we worked really hard as a team to get here and I feel like we deserved that win," said Kaaihue.

It's worth noting that Kaaihue had to come out of the game midway through the second half after taking a kick to her ribs battling for a ball heading towards the Na Alii goal line.

"I got kicked in the rib, but it's okay; pain is temporary," she said.

Indeed.

Even longtime Kekaulike coach Gundi Dancil knew that Kaaihue would get back in the game.

"When she got hurt, we knew that she would come back and bounce back because she's that type of player and when we saw her elected to take the kick instead of our other captain Teani (Arakawa), so we said, well, we practice that and we knew that she was confident," said Dancil.

Confidence is developed through experience, which is why Dancil reminded his players about their previous trips to the state tournament the past two years.

"We knew that Punahou would come in and play their best and so we had to come in and play our best. We told our ladies that we're here three years in a row, so we need to come in with that confidence that we were representing the MIL for the island (of Maui) and we're also champions for the island, so we needed to come here and we had to take all the records out of the books and just come here and play our game," said Dancil.

Na Alii definitely needed to stay composed against the Buffanblu (8-1-3), who were making their first state tournament appearance since a runner-up finish in 2017.

Punahou controlled possession for majority of the second half and pestered Kekaulike's goal throughout the half. But Na Alii were resilient on defense and kept the Buffanblu off the board.

"Even though we had a ton of pressure, they just knew what to do to get it out," Kaaihue said of the defense. "They just did what they had to do to not let it in the goal and that's kind of where we were as a team."

The Buffanblu will meet No. 3 Mililani in a 3 p.m. consolation match Friday at Field #8.