HHSAA Girls Soccer
Kamehameha gets by Punahou for third state championship in 4 years, 11th total


  



Sat, Feb 26, 2022 @ Radford


Final/PK 1st 2nd OT 2OT PK Tot
Punahou (10-2-1) 0 0 0 0 1 0
Kamehameha (11-1-0) 0 0 0 0 3 1

ALIAMANU — Kamehameha rode a roller coaster of emotions on its way to a third state crown in four years Saturday night. 

The top-ranked Warriors edged No. 2 Punahou in penalty kicks, 3-1, after 100 scoreless minutes in the title game of the NIU Health Urgent Care/HHSAA Division I Girls Soccer State Championships. 

A crowd of about 1,200 fans at Radford's John E. Velasco Stadium was on-hand for the third meeting between the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's top two teams; Saturday's face-off served as the rubber match and didn't quite play out how the first two games did — at least, not on the scoreboard. 

In their prior meetings, they combined for 10 goals. Punahou won the first time, 2-1, at Alexander Field on Jan. 31, but Kamehameha exacted its revenge by a score of 4-3 in the rematch on Feb. 10 at newly-refurbished Kunuiakea Stadium. 

The final showdown between the ILH foes was a defensive masterpiece. The Warriors (11-1) and Buffanblu (10-2-1) combined for nine shots on goal in 100 minutes — six of them by Punahou. 

Neither team, however, was able to manufacture a goal and ultimately, the state championship was decided by penalty kicks. 

Both teams converted their first round of PKs — Candace Ching for Punahou and Madison Sharrer for Kamehameha — but the Buffanblu hit the right post with their next two attempts, while Nikki Mau and Leila Kahoano made good on theirs for the Warriors, who led, 3-1, after three rounds. 

When Punahou's fourth shooter missed her PK wide right, it ignited Kamehameha's championship celebration. 

"I think there's a lot of tears of happiness, definitely, a lot of tears of relief and the soccer gods were definitely on our side tonight, they definitely were," Warriors coach Missy Moore said. 

Moore's squad finished the season by winning its final seven games since its lone blemish in the form of the loss to the Buffanblu on the final day of January.

Saturday was the only time the Warriors went to a penalty kick shootout in a game this season. But Moore knew that it would come down to PKs at some point. 

"We've been practicing for a long time," said Moore, who has now coached Kamehameha to five of its 11 state championships. 

"We've been practicing PKs for a long time actually, for the past three weeks," goalkeeper Marley Roe confirmed. "So to see it pay off is really nice."

But, by a twist of fate, Roe could only watch the PK shootout from the sideline after she was red-carded in the final minute of the second overtime period. The disqualification happened after Roe ran off her line to scoop up a Punahou threat in the box, however, just after she gathered the ball with her two hands, Roe made contact with her right shoulder into the chest of a Buffanblu attacker. 

After a brief stoppage in play to tend to the injured Punahou player, Roe was sent off and replaced by reserve goalie Maile Kahele, who immediately came in to defend a penalty kick with the game on the line. 

However, the ensuing Punahou PK — which took place with 30.1 seconds left on the stadium clock — hit off of the crossbar and was no good. 

Niu Health Urgent Care/HHSAA Division I Girls Soccer State Championships All-Tournament Team

Kainani Jacang, Kamehameha
Leila Kahoano, Kamehameha
Alohi Ramos, Kamehameha
Mia Hashimoto, Punahou
Nicole Beauchemin, Punahou
Jordyn Eldredge Sagapolutele, Punahou
Ellie Gusman, Punahou
Jaeda Edayan, Mililani
Kaitlin Beatty, Waiakea
Kylie Pascual, Punahou (goalkeeper)
Marley Roe, Kamehameha (goalkeeper)

Most Outstanding Player: Anuhea Aluli, Kamehameha

And just like that, second life for the Warriors. 

"Like the best relief I've ever felt in my life," Roe said. 

Kahoano couldn't bare to watch. 

"I didn't even see the PK. I was just praying. I was like, ‘This is in your hands, this is in your hands,' and when I looked up it was like it was saved," Kahoano recalled. "Everybody was cheering all of the team on my back was like, ‘We did it! We're not done! We're not done!,' and that's what pushed me, like, ‘K, we're getting this done after this."

That, they did. 

Although Kahele didn't have to make any saves on the four PKs she faced, she answered the call when pressed into duty. 

"Yeah, but still, her presence was really good," Roe pointed out. 

Moore added, "We have a lot of confidence in Maile, our backup ‘keeper. She's in every rep in training; she trains just as hard as Marley. She's always focused and ready to go whenever she's called upon. For her to step in on that situation was huge for the team and huge for herself, too."

Roe was happy for Kahele to be able to finish out the game between the posts after she herself was DQ'd late. 

"It would have been a lot nicer to be in the goal, but I'm proud of Maile for stepping up and my teammates for stepping up and making our PKs," Roe said. 

A few inches here or there and it very well could have been the Buffanblu who were hoisting the championship trophy in the shadow of the H-1 Airport Viaduct. 

"I mean, this could have gone either way, let's be real," Moore stated. "This could have gone either way. Both teams were fantastic. Both teams played with so much heart and so much courage and it's great to see these types of players in Hawaii."

Three of Punahou's half-dozen shots on goal came in the second half; two of them required rather spectacular saves by Roe. 

In the 63rd minute, Ellie Gusman gathered a ball on the left flank then cut inside of a defender and got off a right-footed shot that Roe denied. About four minutes later, she sprawled out to her left for a diving save on a solidly-struck shot on goal off of the right foot of Xehlia Salanoa from about 25 yards out. 

"Oh, we always call her ‘MVP Mar,' " Kahoano disclosed. "She just always shows to these games and I'm so proud to be her teammate on the field here, but also in club and she's one of my bigger sisters, too."

Roe said that she is able to play with a high level of confidence because of her defense in front of her. 

"I was just set. I trust my defenders —but I knew that Punahou was gonna be a tough team tonight and I knew they were gonna put some tough shots up — and in practice they test me all the time so they prepared me for this match and it was just good preparation for this match today," said Roe, who tallied six saves in goal. 

Punahou attempted all three of its corner kicks after halftime.

The Buffanblu were playing in their fourth game of the week. They opened the state tournament with an 8-0 win over Moanalua in Monday's first round, then defeated Kekaulike, 3-1, in Thursday's quarterfinals before toppling Mililani, 3-0, Friday's semifinal round. 

The Warriors were playing for a third consecutive day. After a bye Monday, they beat Kamehameha-Maui, 4-1, in a quarterfinal Thursday, then defeated Waiakea in Friday's semifinals by a score of 3-1. 

Punahou was seeking its first state championship since 2011 and the 12th in program history. It was making its first appearance in the state final since 2017. 

"Well, it's always a battle. It's always a battle with Kamehameha," Buffanblu coach Shelly Izuno said. "I feel like we had great opportunities, we connected a lot of our passes — I feel like we should have ended up with the win here — but you know, when you don't find the net you don't get the win, so yeah, we just didn't score."

It was the first time that the Buffanblu reached the state championship game under Izuno.

"Yeah, of course that's heartbreaking, right? It comes down to penalty kicks and you know, we would really want to play the game out on the field, but I'm really proud of them," she said. "I thought we did extremely well the entire game and we didn't find the net, but we had a ton of chances and unfortunately it just came down to PKs."

Like Kamehameha, it was also Punahou's only game decided by a PK shootout this season. 

Izuno added, "I'm just really proud of this team and their season and to me, they were the better team, but unfortunately in soccer you gotta put the ball in the back of the net and we've got some youth, that, you know, it's a lot of pressure, so they did a great job and I'm really proud of them."



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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