Iai Ma‘afala scored the go-ahead goal in the 61st minute as two-time defending champion Mililani escaped with a 3-2 win over Campbell on Thursday night at Kaiser’s Cougar Stadium.
Mililani (13-0-2 overall) will meet Moanalua for the OIA girls soccer championship on Kaiser’s field at 7 p.m. Saturday. Mililani has won 19 OIA girls soccer titles, including the past two in 2020 and ’22 under coach Darren Smith.
“I feel pretty good. It was a different night, but we did what needed to be done result-wise,” Smith said.
Campbell was the only team Mililani was unable to defeat during the regular season. The teams played to a scoreless tie in week one.
“We understand that they were going to going to play pretty compact and we tried to initially play between the lanes, but we weren’t finding that success in the first half,” Smith noted.
The scoring drought between the teams ended with a flurry of goals in the first half. Jaeda Edayan’s lefty kick from closer range gave the Lady Trojans a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute.
Two minutes later, Emma Higashi scored from roughly 15 yards out, sending the ball just under the crossbar for a two-score lead.
Campbell was undeterred and got its first score on a scramble off a corner kick. Jezarae Teixeira scored her first goal in the 17th minute.
Down 2-1 at intermission, the Lady Sabers tied it in the 52nd minute on an amazing play. Jaylee Curran sent a long pass to Teixeira, who headed the ball in from 7 yards out to tie the match.
“I feel great. We came here and did what we prepared for all season long. They’re a very skilled team. We respect that, so we had a game plan for that,” Sabers coach James Curran said. “Mentally, we’re prepared for those moments, stay calm and stay in the moment.”
Mililani missed numerous opportunities in the box but came through on the play by Ige and Edayan.
“Like they always say, a 2-1 game is probably the most dangerous game. The other team is still mentally in it and momentum can shift quickly,” Smith said. “When they were able to level it, we were also able to maintain our composure, so that was a huge balance point.”
Campbell (9-3-1) will play Pearl City for third place on Friday at 7 p.m., at Roosevelt’s Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium.
In consolation play, Kapolei edged Castle 3-2 and Waipahu outlasted Aiea 2-1 on penalty kicks. Kapolei and Waipahu earned the final two state-tournament berths allotted to the OIA.
