Even though they were the defending ILH champions, the ‘Iolani girls soccer team has been chasing Kamehameha all season.
The Raiders finally caught up to the Warriors on Saturday at home, beating them 1-0 to steal the ILH title. Kamehameha (10-1-1) suffered its first loss of the season and second shutout, both by ‘Iolani (10-0-2)
The Warriors only needed to tie the Raiders to take the ILH title. That’s hard to do in front of each of ‘Iolani’s boys teams screaming their heads off on the end line.
"Home-field advantage, I think," ‘Iolani coach Kristen Masunaga said. "People think it’s not an advantage, but we are used to the surface, we are used to the sun and we are used to the wind. And we have our fans. All of the teams coming out to support us is what we mean when we say ‘ ‘Iolani One Team.’ "
‘Iolani dominated the second half but didn’t crack the goal until Kylee-Kim Bustillos stretched wide and got a foot on a rebound in the 74th minute.
Raiders midfielder Nycole Mitsuyasu got a run down one sideline and served up a ball that sailed harmlessly across the goal mouth, and Kamehameha cleared it. The Warriors appeared to kick the ball out of bounds in transition on the other side of the field and Mitsuyasu was there. With Kamehameha standing around watching the action, Mitsuyasu, a senior, served up a ball in front of the goal that Warriors keeper Meli Sisilia dribbled off the crossbar and allowed to fall to the ground. Megan Goo had a shot at it but let it bounce to Bustillos, who got a foot on it and sent ‘Iolani’s loud crowd into celebration.
"I reached super wide out and barely got my foot on it," Bustillos said. "It felt so much like an accomplishment, we ran so many 240s and did so much conditioning this week to prepare for this."
‘Iolani earns the ILH’s seeded berth in the state tournament, while Kamehameha will play in the first round. The ILH champion has gone on to win states in 10 of the past 11 years, the only exception coming in 2009, when the Warriors did it as the ILH runner-up.
Kamehameha finally woke up in the final two minutes of the match when senior midfielder Kayla Mizo blasted a shot just under the crossbar that ‘Iolani keeper Courtney Overland, who took over for Kathryn Yuu at halftime, punched out of danger. Kiani Halushka earned another hot chance for Kamehameha seconds later, but Overland laid out to deny her. The Raiders’ defense boomed each subsequent threat out of their side of the field until the center referee blew his whistle to signify that the Raiders had successfully defended their crown.
"This means everything," Goo said. "This is the one we wanted this week."
‘Iolani outshot Kamehameha 7-3 in the second half.
How much this ILH championship was worth to ‘Iolani is yet to be seen. Junior forward Summer Kaneshiro suffered an injury to her left knee in the first half and had to be carted off. She remained on the bench with her knee wrapped and made it through the postgame handshake line on crutches, but coaches and trainers fear she might be out for a while. She went from the stadium to the hospital after the game.
Kamehameha’s Makue Kawaiualani was a casualty as well, but her knee injury didn’t appear as serious and she avoided having it wrapped during the match. Kamehameha has more things to sort out than whether the girl who scored the lone goal in their last state title match, a win over ‘Iolani in 2012, will be upright.
"It’s a good learning lesson for us, that’s for sure," Kamehameha coach Melissa Moore said. "A lesson not to come out flat in an ILH championship game. A lot of the younger players had to step it up."
