ILH rivals Punahou, Iolani will play for championship
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By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Interscholastic League of Honolulu rivals Punahou and Iolani needed extra time yesterday to advance to the finals of the Meadow Gold Dairies/HHSAA Boys Soccer State Championships at Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
Punahou junior forward Deryck Lim scored at the 80:50 mark in a 1-0 win over Kapolei in the semifinals. The second-seeded Buffanblu will play for the title for the first time since 2003.
Iolani junior forward Morgan Langley scored four minutes, 59 seconds into overtime to lead the Raiders over No. 1 seed Mililani, 1-0. Iolani will play in its third straight state championship game.
PUNAHOU 1, KAPOLEI 0
If not for two minutes and 35 seconds of added time, Punahou's Lim might not have scored his two goals in this boys state tournament.
"Our defense was playing good and we knew we had to get a goal for them," Lim said of the Punahou (14-2-0) defense, which shut out Kapolei after it scored nine goals in its two previous state tournament games.
Lim scored when senior midfielder/defender Kyle Ertel crossed the ball to him. Lim played the ball to junior forward/midfielder Nick Love, who gave it back to him, and Lim put the ball into the goal.
"I just tried to get the ball to Nick; I'm not sure how it came back," said Lim, who scored at 81:45 in a quarterfinal game Thursday.
"We know they like the flanks and like to serve it in and that Love can create on his own," Kapolei coach Bryce Kaneshiro said. "We were worried about him being free, especially in the 18-yard-box. They basically scored on what we thought they would. It was a transition play."
Punahou coach Bob Clague said he thought the game was going into overtime as it approached the end of the 80-minute regulation period. He had his team switch to three forwards from two with about five minutes remaining, to try to create scoring opportunities with pressure.
"You've got to do that, play a high-pressure game," Clague said. "You have to make them make mistakes. If you let them play, they will send high balls down the field, and they have a chance to put the ball in."
Both teams had dangerous chances. Kapolei (13-2-0) senior midfielder Drew Geis hit the post in the eighth minute on a header.
A Kapolei miscue in the 16th minute created an opportunity for the Buffanblu, when the goalkeeper cleared the ball and it hit a Hurricanes defender. The ball bounced to Punahou's Love, but he couldn't get a clear shot after the goalkeeper dived for the ball.
Kapolei junior forward Curtis Kiyabu blasted a low shot in the 53rd minute to the right side of the goal on a clear from his own throw-in but a Punahou defender blocked the shot.
"I thought we were going to score one before the end of the game," Kapolei's Kaneshiro said. "We had a lot of opportunities on the long throw-ins. We just didn't put it in. I'm extremely proud of my guys."
IOLANI 1, MILILANI 0
Iolani's Langley scored on assists from senior midfielders Zachary Napier and Lee Anderson.
Napier started the play on a booming cross from the left side across the field to Anderson. Anderson volleyed the ball across the face of the goal to Langley, who was trailing the play.
"At first I was thinking, 'Why did he do that?' " Langley said of Napier's switching of the field. "Zach saw it, and I didn't see it. I went to check to Zach, and when I saw the cross, I decided to break off. I had to stay behind Lee; I didn't want to be offside."
Anderson said: "My man left me, I think he went over to cover Zach. Morgan was wide open."
It was the Raiders' second solid opportunity of the overtime period. Senior forward Mike Hirokawa hit the crossbar three minutes into overtime on a pass from Anderson.
Iolani outshot Mililani 11-3 through the 80-minute regulation period, and the Raiders added four more in overtime, to none by the Trojans.
"Mililani is very disciplined and dangerous on set pieces," Iolani coach Chris Lee said. "My concern was that it was going to boil down to that."
He said one of the keys to the Raiders' victory last night was the defense's ability to settle the ball.
"They didn't get caught with the long balls," he said. "They kept their composure."
That led to execution of their game plan: a combination of spreading the Trojans out with plays down the sideline and challenging them down the middle of the field.
It provided Iolani with several chances in regulation. Napier had a shot on the left side after Langley flicked the ball to him, but Mililani goalkeeper Michael Smith blocked the ball. Three minutes later, Langley had an open look at the goal on a cross from sophomore midfielder Ian Watson, but his shot was high.
HAWAI'I PREP 3, KAMEHAMEHA-MAUI 1
Senior midfielder C.J. Cintas (25th minute), junior forward Andy Lee (34th) and senior midfielder Coby Powers (48th) scored for Ka Makani in a consolation game. Warriors senior defender Preston Gannon scored in the 75th minute.
WAIAKEA 3, KAISER 0
Freshman forward Ethan Richardson scored a hat trick to lead the Warriors. Richardson scored in the 14th, 36th and 60th minutes of the consolation game.
Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.