Owen Riecke (L) put King Kekaulike ahead with his goal off of a 19-yard direct free kick in the 51st minute of Thursday's quarterfinal game against Kapolei. Riecke and Na Alii went on to defeat the Hurricanes in a penalty kick shootout, 6-5, and will play Kalani in a 7 p.m. semifinal Friday at Radford's John E. Velasco Stadium. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Thu, Mar 3, 2022 @ Waipio

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Kapolei

1

Kekaulike

2

Final/PK	1st	2nd	OT	2OT	PK	Tot
Kapolei (12-4-0)	0	1	0	0	5	1
Kekaulike (9-1-2)	0	1	0	0	6	2

O. Riecke (51’)   J. Tomasiewicz (78’)

WAIPAHU — For the first time since 2018, King Kekaulike is back in the final four. 

Owen Riecke scored a goal in regulation and seventh-ranked Na Alii fended off No. 5 Kapolei, 6-5 in penalty kicks, in a tightly-contested quarterfinal of the NIU Health Urgent Care/HHSAA Division I Boys Soccer State Championships Thursday. 

A crowd of about 100 fans at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex's Field No. 16 saw King Kekaulike, the Maui Interscholastic League champion and fourth seed in this week's tournament, improve to 8-1-2 and move on to Friday's semifinal round, where it will play No. 6 Kalani at 7 p.m. at Radford's John E. Velasco Stadium. 

"I'm just happy with the outcome," Na Alii co-head coach Tye Perdido said. 

"We never really expected it, (but) we hoped that we could execute that plan that we have for each team we play and then ideally it comes down to the boys just doing the game plan and playing with their hearts and they did what they did and I commend them for that," Perdido said. 

Both teams had a couple of scoring chances in the first half — King K in the 21st and 22nd minutes and Kapolei in the 34th and 35th minutes — but neither was able to capitalize on them. 

"For the most part we stayed with our game plan, we weren't executing exactly how I wanted them to and then it kind of went away from it in the second half, but ultimately, yeah, we did what we wanted to do in our attack and in our defensive shape, but you know, we wish we could have gotten a finish in the regular time," Perdido said. 

The match remained scoreless until Riecke broke the tie in the 51st minute with his goal off of a direct free kick from just outside the 18-yard box. The free kick was a result of a foul against a Kapolei player that was drawn by Rex Riecke. Owen Riecke and Bailey Hoffman stood behind the ball on the restart; the former off to the right of the ball and the latter to the left. 

"We basically have it set-up so that both footed players — a left and a right — have an idea to look for goal and guys have priority based on what they see from the keeper setting up his wall and it was set-up perfect for a left-footed kicker and (Riecke) executed well," Perdido explained. 

Riecke's hit a left-footed in-swinger that looped around a wall of Kapolei defenders and into the right side of the goal. 

Na Alii's lead held until late in regulation, when John Tomasiewicz netted the equalizing goal on a shot from distance that ricocheted off the post and into the net. Tomasiewicz's laser beam of a goal from about 35 yards out tied the score at 1-up in the 78th minute. 

"We knew our outside-backs would get isolated one-v-ones," Perdido said. "It was a solid finish — you know, you couldn't ask to get scored on by a better goal — but ultimately we broke down in the middle and then we got isolated too much and the guy found a really good shot."

Neither team was able to score the golden goal in either of the two 10-minute overtime periods and the match went to penalty kicks. 

After both teams successfully converted all five rounds of PKs, it went to a sixth round. King K converted its penalty kick to go up, 6-5, but Kapolei's sixth shooter had his PK hit the crossbar to end the match. 

"I mean, it solely took heart," Perdido said. "You know, we had chances in the game, they had chances in the game, we couldn't put our stuff away, we didn't capitalize where I wanted to in the regular time, but they held down in the end and we were able to keep their heads to finish the PKs."

Perdido credited his players for executing in the high-pressure situation of a PK shootout.

"We've been trying to train them up a little bit and taking some practices and focusing on that, but really it just came down to who was able to keep their heads in the moment and deal with the pressure that was in front of them," Perdido said. 

King K registered six shots on goal to five for Kapolei. 

The Hurricanes tallied seven corner kicks, including four after the end of regulation and Na Alii took three corners — none of them after the 80th minute. 

Ciano Pham made five saves in goal for Kapolei, while Nainoa Pascual recorded three stops for King K. 

Kapolei, the runner-up from the Oahu Interscholastic Association, fell to 12-3 with the loss. It will face top-seeded Punahou in a 3 p.m. fifth-place semifinal Friday at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex Field No. 15. 

Na Alii will be making its first appearance in the state semifinal round since 2018, when it finished fourth in the tournament.