The Mililani boys soccer team is back atop the Oahu Interscholastic Association, and the Trojans took down two-time defending champion Kapolei on Saturday to get there.
Xander Tamashiro and Kai Martin scored first-half goals as the Trojans beat the Hurricanes 2-1 in the final of the OIA Division I tournament.
Mililani, Kapolei, Kalani, Aiea, Kaiser and Pearl City will represent the league in the HHSAA tournament, which starts Feb. 28.
“The job’s not done, but this means everything for us,” said Tamashiro, a junior. “We’ve been working hard for this, and in two more weeks, we’re going to come here and do it again.”
Mililani (13-0) has won 17 OIA titles, with the last coming in 2015. Kapolei (11-2) claimed the crown in 2019 and 2020 — last year’s season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mililani, the West’s No. 1 seed, went up 1-0 when Tamashiro scored on a cross from Keegan McGehee at 31:50.
“I hit it for (Nicolas Kashiwai), it went back to Keegs and I just had an open lane and just ran right through it and I got a nice touch and nice placement on the goal,” Tamashiro said.
Martin gave the Trojans a 2-0 advantage with a goal off an assist from Seth Uson at 36:59.
“The ball came from Seth, our right back, he saw me open,” said Martin, a sophomore. “He hit it over to the left side, our striker went up for it and I saw he was going to miss the ball, so I followed in with the left foot, got a good touch on it and just powered through the ball.”
Mililani nearly scored again in the final minute of the first half when Will Simpson dribbled down the left side and found a wide-open Max Scott about 10 yards out. Scott’s shot was saved by Hurricanes goalkeeper Ciano Pham, with the rebound going back to Scott, whose second shot was also blocked by Pham.
“We had a feeling we could cause problems against their back line a little bit,” said Mililani coach Steven McGehee. “Truth to them, they were all over us, they caused problems and made it difficult for us to do things.”
The Trojans outscored OIA opponents 74-4 in 13 games this season.
Kapolei, the West’s No. 2 seed, scored on a penalty kick by Elijah Hines with 9.6 seconds remaining after a Kapolei player was tripped in the box.
“Unfortunately we gave another PK away late, but at this point we’re happy with where we are,” McGehee said. “We finished where we wanted to be.”
Mililani had seven shots on goal, while Kapolei had four. Both teams had two shots in the second half.
