Mililani’s Jayden Sotelo wound up and lofted a shot from distance toward King Kekaulike’s goal on Thursday.
Mother Nature was there to provide the assist.
Sotelo scored in the 47th minute on a shot into the wind and Kai Martin scored in the 80th as No. 1 seed Mililani beat defending champion King Kekaulike 2-0 in the Division I quarterfinals of the Motiv8 Foundation/HHSAA Boys Soccer Championships at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.
Mililani, the OIA champion, will face Hilo in today’s semifinals at 7 p.m. at Waipahu.
“It’s something that we were working at, to try and get to that level,” Mililani coach Steven McGehee said of advancing. “We left it on the table last year and I’m glad we were able to take care of it this year.”
Sotelo controlled the ball on the right side and sent a shot from 23 yards that got caught in the wind and landed just over Na Alii goalkeeper Nainoa Pascual.
“I was trying to get down the line and take on the outside back,” Sotelo said. “I got the ball on my feet and I saw the inside open, so I just tried to serve it into a dangerous area and luckily it floated into the back of the net.
“The spin went away and it just kind of shifted in the air and made it hard for the goalie to save.”
The Trojans used long balls to counter Na Alii’s high press and were able to get a couple of decent scoring opportunities in the first half. Mililani also was called for being offside five times before halftime.
“We definitely get numbers forward,” King Kekaulike coach Tye Perdido said. “They stretched us. Some of our guys didn’t stay disciplined and we didn’t keep our defensive shape and we ended up not being able to trap the ball and pass it as much as we needed to and they were able to tuck one away.”
Martin made it 2-0 by dribbling down the left side and shooting into the right side of the goal. It was the final action of the game.
“I knew I was faster than the center back, so I just went to the line and I saw others coming in, so I had the get the shot off faster,” Martin said.
He said his team was frustrated by the number of offside calls before halftime.
“First half, we were getting called offsides all the time,” Martin said. “That frustration pulled us forward in the second half.”
Mililani (14-0) held King Kekaulike, the MIL runner-up, to three shots on goal.
The best scoring opportunity for Na Alii came in the 73rd when Bubba Emmanuel sent a free kick just over the head of Kaleo Gallen, who was wide open in front of the goal.
“We have to be more lethal with our attack,” Perdido said. “We kind of lost our momentum and the guys didn’t really step up in the attacking end. All we had to do was get one back.”
King Kekaulike (9-4) will face Punahou in today’s fifth-place semifinals at 1 p.m. at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex Field No. 5.
