After four games in four days, the Pearl City girls soccer team needed a little help.

So they turned to the blue band on coach Frank Baumholtz III’s wrist.

Baumholtz wears the jewelry in honor of Tiffany Nakagawa, a sophomore last year who died in March of an aneurysm in her brain. The team wears them when they are not playing.

The fifth-seeded Chargers completed an improbable run through the OIA Red playoffs, beating Kaiser 2-1 in penalty kicks in the final at Kapolei. They hit all three of their penalty kicks, while the Cougars missed all three of theirs. When Erin Okuna and Haley Honda lined up for their attempts, Baumholtz had a feeling.

"We just knew she was with us," Baumholtz said through tears. "To play four days in a row, and go through all we have gone through in this tournament, on those last two shots I said ‘I think you are with us, Tiffany.’ "

Noelle Mercado’s attempt in the first shot of the penalty kicks sailed over the goal, and Tasha Inong beat Kaiser keeper Corina Edgington high to give the Chargers the lead. Pearl City shootout keeper Jordan Gomes, who won in a shootout the previous night, blocked Alicia Chang’s shot and Okuna converted to make it 2-0. Allyson Matsuoka then sailed one high and Honda ended it with a laser to Edgington’s right.

Pearl City heads into the state tournament with a top seed for the first time since it won the OIA in 2008. Kaiser, Kapolei, Castle, Aiea and Mililani will join the Chargers, who were no better than fifth in the West after the regular season.

Mercado broke open an end-to-end affair in the 51st minute, when Kaiser earned a throw in and decided to back off. The aggressive Chargers, who had snuffed every set play Kaiser attempted to that point, laid back a bit and Mercado settled the ball at her feet 27 yards from the goal. Mercado placed a ball over the defense that seemed to be headed for the cross bar.

Shots like that are trouble for Pearl City, and there was nothing Chargers keeper Areila Bali could do about this one. The ball slipped between the crossbar and Bali’s fingers and into the goal.

Pearl City has responded all year, and did so in the 76th minute when Zoe Sano took a corner kick and drilled the ball into the wash.

Bethany Nazareno got a hip on the ball in the chaos and Inong helped it the rest of the way to tie the score at 1. The rest of the game was played end-to-end, but neither team could dent the goal through the rest of regulation and two overtimes.

"That’s what you call a championship game," Kaiser coach Adolph Samuels said. "That’s how it’s played, man. It’s good for the kids to be a part of this, what can you say? (Baumholtz) and them pulled it out."