Mililani’s Jackson Cosner has had his father, Alika, on the coaching staff for every team he has played for since he was 8 years old.
Jackson Cosner scored one of the biggest goals of his career Thursday and Alika Cosner, in his first season as Trojans head coach, didn’t see it.
Jackson Cosner scored in the first half and Pookela Tom-Makue added a goal in the second as Mililani beat Castle 2-1 in the semifinals of the OIA boys Division I tournament at Kaiser.
“It was good that he scored. I have to go back and watch the film. I didn’t even see it,” said Alika Cosner, who has been a part of Mililani’s staff for about 10 years. “I was back talking to one of my boys. I’m happy for him, he’s been training really hard.”
Jackson Cosner said: “That goal was big for me and my father.”
On the goal, there was a scramble for a high bounding ball at the edge of the penalty box. Kalen Toguchi controlled the ball and passed to Cosner, who kicked it in from 15 yards into the left side of the goal at 38:07.
“Shout out to Kalen Toguchi, No. 24 on my team,” Jackson Cosner said. “He puts a lot of trust in me. He took a touch in, I was calling for it and thankfully he was good enough to hand it over to me.”
Mililani will play for its fourth OIA title in a row and 20th overall.
Mililani (12-0-0) will face Campbell for the OIA title Saturday at 7 p.m.
“We’re just looking at one game at a time,” Alika Cosner said. “We took care of the job today. We’ll spent the next 48 hours preparing for the next one.”
Mililani beat Campbell 1-0 on Dec. 27.
Castle (9-2-1) will face Kailua for third place today at 7 p.m. at Farrington.
Mililani, the West champion, went up 2-0 at 51:00 when Tom-Makue booted in a throw-in from inside the 6-yard box off Toguchi’s throw-in from the left side.
“Every time he plays it, we always aim for the back post. It was all set up. We just had to execute,” Tom-Makue said.
As far as Toguchi setting up his teammates twice, Alika Cosner said: “He’s one of the leading guys on our assist sheet. He’s got a lethal throw that puts us in a dangerous area. He’s always going to be a threat.”
Castle, the East runner-up, got within 2-1 when Rider MacMillan scored at 70:11.
The Trojans got the better of play in the first half.
Caleb Ishizaka sent a header from in close over the crossbar in the 14th minute, and Alika Cosner’s shot from 12 yards was saved by Castle goalkeeper Javan Montero in the 31st.
In the 39th, Toguchi sent a shot just over the crossbar.
In the 42nd, a Mililani shot went off the crossbar and Montero blocked two rebound attempts from in close.
The Knights made things interesting in the final minutes with Montero, the goalkeeper, moving into the attacking zone. They got a couple of shots on goal, including one that was blocked by a Mililani defender close to the goal as the final seconds ticked away.
