After a full season and three playoff games, the Pearl City girls soccer team still had another weapon in reserve.
Junior halfback Jordan Gomes stepped in at keeper and stopped two of three shots in a penalty-kick shootout, and the Chargers beat Castle 1-0 Thursday night in Kapolei to reach the OIA championship game. Pearl City will face Kaiser tonight for the title. It is Pearl City’s first appearance in the OIA championship since 2008, when it won it all.
Senior keeper Ariela Bali held the Knights off the scoreboard through regulation and two overtimes before making way for Gomes. Gomes practiced in goal every day but didn’t get to show it until a week ago in a loss to Campbell.
"I was pretty calm. I knew I could get it," Gomes said. "At least I hoped I could get it."
Pearl City’s Tasha Inong scored to start the shootout, but Castle’s Vanessa Chinen matched her. The Chargers’ Erin Okuna then scored for a 2-1 edge before Gomes stopped Castle’s Ashley Aganos. But Gomes moved early, giving Aganos another shot at it. Aganos hit the post on her second try and Pearl City’s Haley Honda knocked one off Castle keeper Brandee Lane’s fingertips to give the Chargers the advantage.
Gomes then blocked Mikayla Harada with both hands to give freshman Randi Fontes the chance to win it. Fontes had three runs during regulation and overtime but missed on all three. This time she beat Lane to the left, setting off a celebration.
Pearl City (9-4) entered the tournament as the fifth seed out of the West, but fought through three games to reach the final. The Chargers are the first team seeded lower than second to make it through since Kahuku did it as a No. 5 in 2009. Pearl City notched its third straight shutout and seventh of the season. It has not allowed more than one goal in regulation since losing to Mililani on Dec. 17.
Both teams are already in the state tournament, taking away some of the sting for a Castle squad that took second in the East. The Knights (9-3) lost Lane for 15 minutes in the first half when she got kicked in the face and had to be tested for a concussion.
"I am so proud," Castle coach Millie Dydasco said. "All you can ask from a player is that they give their 100 percent, and they left it all out there tonight. I couldn’t ask for any more."
Pearl City coaches worked with Gomes before the game on reading a shooter’s body language and the junior said it paid off. But she’s not giving away secrets since the Chargers might see the Knights again in the state tournament.
"It’s so hard to read," Gomes said. "I can usually tell which way they are going to open up, but it’s so hard to tell, especially when they have a hard kick like (Harada). Sorry, but it is a secret."
Gomes got valuable experience in the loss to Campbell during the regular season, when she got her mitts on three shots but saw them trickle in. She said that loss stayed with her for a long time. The win on Thursday makes her feel a little better. The Chargers have not lost since.
"She was scared to death, just like everyone standing on the sideline was," Pearl City coach Frank Baumholtz III said. "But for her to block that many, absolutely fantastic. My heart is going about 5,000 miles an hour. I almost want to cry."
Kaiser 2, Kapolei 1, PK
Kaiser keeper Corina Edgington blocked Jenna Tomei’s penalty kick with both hands and the Cougars beat the Hurricanes.
"I keep on telling the team, when we go to PKs we don’t have to worry because we have one of the best keepers in the state in the box," Kaiser coach Adolph Samuels said.
Kaiser made five penalty kicks to Kapolei’s four.
Kapolei’s Alyssa Yoshida banged a hard shot off the post and in for the first goal of the contest in the 53rd minute and Noelle Mercado answered for Kaiser in the 74th minute when she headed a corner kick from Allyson Matsuoka to the ground and watched it trickle in.
