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Top-seeded Punahou scores early, late to beat Mililani

DARRYL OUMI / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER
                                Punahou’s Nicole Beauchemin kicks the ball during last year’s HHSAA championship game on Feb. 4.

DARRYL OUMI / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

Punahou’s Nicole Beauchemin kicks the ball during last year’s HHSAA championship game on Feb. 4.

Punahou girls soccer coach Shelley Izuno had a feeling her team was going to perform well after watching warmups Friday against Mililani.

Turns out, her premonition was right.

Punahou scored a pair of goals one minute apart over the first six minutes, then got two more goals over the final three minutes in a 4-0 victory over Mililani in the semifinals of the Motiv8 Foundation/HHSAA Girls Division I State Championships at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex’s main stadium.

“They had the best warmup I’ve ever seen,” Izuno said. “You could feel it. Obviously, they went in and the energy was really high and they executed.

“There’s just a vibe I get from them. I felt it. It was unbelievable positive today.”

Emily Daehler scored at 4:10 and Nicole Beauchemin found the back of the net on a corner kick at 5:10. Sachie Ilae scored at 77:46 and Xehlia Salanoa had a goal at 78:33 for the No. 1-seeded Buffanblu.

Punahou’s victory set up a third consecutive state title matchup against ILH rival Kamehameha.

Kickoff will be today at 7 p.m. at Waipio.

“Familiar opponent. You never know how it’s going to go,” Izuno said. “They always play really hard and they don’t quit. It’ll be a really good game.”

The Warriors won in 2022 and the Buffanblu prevailed last year. Punahou (11-1-0) has won 12 state championships overall, while Kamehameha has claimed 11.

The Buffanblu also defeated the Trojans for the third consecutive season in the semifinals. Punahou won 3-0 in 2022 and 1-0 last year.

Daehler’s goal Friday came off a botched clearance by Mililani. Ally Yoshimura dribbled through traffic in the penalty box and sent a cross that was cleared by a Mililani defender off a teammate with the ball going right to Daehler, who buried a shot from the middle.

“Our goal was to score in the first five minutes and we did that today,” Daehler said.

The Buffanblu made it 2-0 on Beauchemin’s corner kick from the left side that traveled untouched into the top-right corner of the goal.

“I was trying to curve it in because my dad was telling me early that it was really windy tonight, and try to use that to my advantage,” Beauchemin said.

Izuno said: “That was special just to witness. She’s amazing at placing long balls.”

The Buffanblu made it 3-0 on Ilae’s goal from the top of the penalty box into the top-right corner of the goal.

Salanoa’s goal came off a cross from Carly Ann Cormack.

Punahou finished with 11 shots on goal, while Mililani (12-2-2) had five.

“It comes down to teamwork,” Izuno said. “We tell them no one’s going to play a perfect game. Someone’s going to get beat, but if you do it together someone is going to stop the ball.”

During this year’s ILH season, Punahou finished 2-1 against Kamehameha, with the Buffanblu holding an 8-1 advantage in aggregate scoring.

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