Down to the game’s final stretch, Kapolei pressed forward in hopes of making up a one-goal deficit.
With two wild plays in a one-minute span, Kapolei scored the tying and game-winning goals to beat Kahuku 3-2 in Tuesday’s quarterfinals of the OIA Red boys soccer playoffs at Roosevelt.
The Hurricanes (9-0-2) and all of Tuesday’s quarterfinal winners advanced to Thursday’s semifinals at Castle. All four also earned berths to the Division I state tournament.
“They told us it was 15 minutes left and it was all or nothing,” said Kapolei’s CJ Harvey, who scored the game-winner in the 75th minute. “Once Garrison (Lee) put in his header, that just rallied us.”
Lee’s header in front of the goal tied it 2-2 in the 74th for Kapolei, the second seed out of the West. With the Hurricanes pushing forward and controlling play for most of the second half, Harvey slotted in the game-winning goal from inside the 18-yard box.
“It was intense, I didn’t really expect it,” Harvey said. “The ball just came to me in the 18 and I shook two guys and had to put it in there.”
The Red Raiders (8-4), the third seed out of the East, didn’t have a shot on goal in the second half but had a great opportunity in the 80th minute when the ball was knocked around inside the box. Kapolei finally cleared it and held on for the win.
“We didn’t have much possession, they had more possessions than us in the first half,” Harvey said. “We had to focus on that, to possess.”
Kahuku scored both of its goals in the first half and led 2-1 at halftime. Harvey scored a minute into the game for Kapolei, but Gabriel Pinheiro-Alves’ header off a corner kick tied it at 1 in the 13th minute. Pinheiro-Alves collected the ball in the box off a free kick and scored in the 22nd.
“We weren’t really connecting too well,” Harvey said. “We knew they were a good contender, but we’ve never challenged them. They’ve never been in the finals, we kind of underestimated them. Once we were down at the half, we knew we had to step it up, have to start combining in the final third.”
The Red Raiders still have an opportunity to advance to the state tournament with a win in Wednesday’s consolation game. The last time Kahuku advanced to the state tournament was in 2012, when it won the OIA White title and finished sixth in Division II.
“We’re not known as a soccer program, its always football, football,” said Kahuku coach Robert Ah Puck. “The boys have come a long way, a lot of them starting to get into the game of soccer.”
Kalani 2, Kaiser 1, OT
Marc Teshima scored the golden goal three minutes into overtime to lift the Falcons (10-0-1) over the Cougars at Roosevelt.
Kyle Ichiyama scored in the 50th for Kalani, the top seed out of the East who will play Kapolei in the semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Castle. David Cito Rodriquez scored in the 80th for East No. 5 Kaiser (7-4-1) to force overtime.
Kaiser will play Kahuku in a consolation match at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Kailua.
Mililani 2, Moanalua 0
Kalahikiola Judd and MJ Matas scored goals to lead the West No. 1-seeded Trojans past Na Menehune at Mililani.
Mililani will play East No. 2 Kalaheo in a semifinal match at 7 p.m. Thursday at Castle. Moanalua will play Castle at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Kailua.
Kalaheo 1, Castle 0
Jhonah Felipe scored in the 71st minute to lift the Mustangs past the Knights and into the semifinals.
