Katie Finkler’s golden goal proved to be Kailua’s golden moment at Saturday’s OIA Division II girls soccer championship game.

The East Division No. 1 Surfriders prevailed over West Division No. 1 Nanakuli 2-1 to claim the OIA crown in an instant classic game that featured two dramatic last-second goals.

“I couldn’t really tell at first if (the ball) was going in or not,” Finkler said about her game-winning shot in overtime. “I thought it was going over. And then I saw it go in and my teammates running at me and I was like ‘oh, it went in.’ ”

“It’s hard to put into words,” Kailua coach Malu Afong said about the dramatic finish. “We just knew that we needed to keep the girls fired up, not get nervous. They were very nervous, but we told them just stick to the game plan, play hard, go out there and finish the job.”

Kailua will be the OIA’s seeded team and receive a first-round bye at the Motiv8 Foundation Girls Division II Soccer Championships, which start Feb. 1.

“It’s all about the team chemistry,” Afong said. “As long as they stick together and pick each other up, they can overcome all these obstacles. I think that’s the most important thing that we need to go into states with.”

Nanakuli, Waianae, Farrington and Waialua will also represent the league in the 12-team tournament.

“We came here and did what we were supposed to do,” Nanakuli coach Chasity Morgan said. “We told them to pressure the ball, play aggressive, finish the game, finish what we started. We were close. The final seconds of overtime, we got caught lacking. But I told my girls, we have to learn from our mistakes because we still have states coming up.”

With the Nanakuli defense facing the sun, Kailua pressed its advantage from the very beginning as Nanakuli keeper Kapa Flood nearly lost a deep cross in the sun. She ultimately kept the shot from midfield out of goal, but gave plenty for Kailua to think about.

“It was definitely something that we were thinking about,” Kailua’s Makayla Lopez said about taking advantage of the afternoon sun. “If she can’t see the ball, we can just lift it and hope she misses it, so the ball will go in.”

Six minutes into the match Kailua put that advantage to good use. Nanakuli mishandled a throw-in, which rolled into some open space The ball wound up at the feet of Lopez, who fired the ball over the head of Flood into the net for the 30-yard opening goal.

The Golden Hawks had a good chance to equalize with back-to-back corner kick opportunities at the 20th minute mark. The first corner was rolled into play and cleared by the Surfriders past the end line. On the second corner, Nanakuli’s Kamaile Peneku launched a beautiful cross into the box, but the ball took a bounce away from goal off of Glorina Respicio’s head.

Lexi Lakatani nearly doubled Kailua’s score in the 14th minute. Her shot from outside the box bounced off of Flood’s hands, but Flood regained control to keep the deficit at 1 goal.

Nanakuli continued to threaten on set piece opportunities. Peneku sent another perfectly placed cross from the left corner, this one landing at the feet of Ray-Ann Kuhiiki. The ensuing shot hit off the top crossbar, leaving the Golden Hawks still in search of the equalizer.

The Surfriders had their own chance to double their lead with a corner kick. Lopez’s cross reached Kamalei Leong, who sent the ball towards the bottom right corner of the goal. Flood secured the ball after a deflection.

Nanakuli became the aggressors to start the second half, forcing back-to-back corners in the first two minutes of the period.

The Golden Hawks again came tantalizingly close to an equalizer on a corner kick late in the game. Peneku connected with Respicio right in front of the goal, but Respicio sent the header straight up and over the top crossbar.

Nanakuli pulled some late-game magic out of its pocket in the final seconds of the game. With just two ticks left, Kailua keeper Taufuaalemalo Letalu mishandled a long Nanakuli shot, dropping a sure catch in front of goal. Nanakuli’s Respicio found herself in the right place at the right time, knocking the ball into the net from just outside the goal to send the game into sudden-death overtime.

“One thing about our girls is that they don’t give up,” Morgan said. “We tell them to play all the way until the whistle blows. When we made that goal, I had all the faith that we would go into overtime and win.”

The extra period played out like much of the second half, with Kailua and Nanakuli making runs at goal but never really threatening. The overtime period again ended on a final-second miracle goal, but this time it was Kailua doing the celebrating. After a Surfrider shot slammed off of a Golden Hawk defender, Finkler picked up the loose ball and fired a shot 36 yards into the top left corner of the goal to win. Finkler’s goal, which came with under 20 seconds left on the clock, clinched the second Kailua OIA Division II title in five years, and fourth all time.