Hawaii Prep finally has something to talk about.
Ka Makani, who were the state runners-up to Mid-Pacific the past two years, beat the Owls 2-1 in overtime at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex to win the Division II state title at the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Girls Soccer State Championships.
"After the third year being here, this is amazing," junior midfielder and captain Gabby Ewing said. "We worked so hard for this day. We tried really hard not to talk about it until we got here. It was really hard not thinking about this game."
Nanea Tavares ended it in the 86th minute to touch off the celebration. The Owls controlled overtime until Marlie Mandaguit popped a pass straight into the air that Mid-Pacific keeper Sarah Poppinga was forced to wait to drop to her. It never reached her, as Tavares rose higher than her and put it into the goal.
"I was just in the right place at the right time, I guess," Tavares said. "We worked really hard to get where we are. I love this team so much."
Hawaii Prep forced the extra period in the 71st minute when it teed off on a Mid-Pacific defense that had blocked every attempt. Ka Makani finally broke through when Bri Vallente booted home a rebound shot.
"It wasn’t easy. We told them before the game they weren’t going to give it to us, we were going to have to rip it away," Hawaii Prep coach Stephen Perry said. "It seems like everyone was stopping it on the line for them, but the girls didn’t get frustrated."
Janaye Shepherd, who was moved from midfield to defense against the taller Ka Makani, showed off her range twice in the early going with blasts into the box from near midfield. She put the Owls in front in the 27th minute.
Shepherd set up just inside midfield and traced an arc over the defense and across the plane on the fly.
"HPA deserved it, they played a great game," Mid-Pacific coach Dave Pai said. "But I am proud of the girls. For what we started with at the beginning of the year, we are really proud where we ended up."
Hawaii Prep outshot Mid-Pacific 9-3 in the first half but went into the break with nothing to show for it.
"It really caught us off guard," Mandaguit said of being shut down in the first half. "We were just like ‘Let’s be resilient and we are going to come back.’ Our whole team, we know we needed to push through and give our seniors what they deserve, a championship."
THIRD PLACE
PAC-FIVE 0, KS-HAWAII 0
FIFTH PLACE
KAPAA 1, LEILEHUA 0
Goal scorer: Kapaa–Eryka Keohe (74:00)
CONSOLATION
RADFORD 2, HONOKAA 0
Goal scorers: Radford–Nia Thomas (7:00), Kourtnie Jury-Hale (37:00)
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Mari Tateishi, Mid-Pacific
Tasi Reid, Pac-Five
Kekai Wong Yuen, KS-Hawaii
Dani Grainger, Hawaii Prep
Janaye Shepherd, Mid-Pacific
Nanea Tavares, Hawaii Prep
JC Kerr, KS-Hawaii
Shayla "Sachi" Iwata, KS-Hawaii
Bri Vallente, Hawaii Prep
Kayla Watanabe, Mid-Pacific
Goalkeeper: Morgan Monahan, Hawaii Prep
Most Outstanding Player: Gabbie Ewing, Hawaii Prep
