Priority No. 1 for the Mililani Trojans was, and will always be, tough-as-nails defense.
Deep into a stalemate with Castle on the Knights’ home field, coach Ray Akiona’s defending Oahu Interscholastic Association champions took the offensive. Randi Macadangdang drilled a 35-yard free kick and Tia Rodriguez tapped in a 15-yard score in the 75th minute to lift Mililani to a 2-1 win in the semifinal round of the OIA Division I girls soccer playoffs on Thursday.
Mililani (10-0-2), the top seed from the West, will face Pearl City in the final Saturday.
“Castle is so fast. Our normal way is to reset (the offense), but you couldn’t hold it against them,” Akiona said. “Castle puts tremendous pressure on you all the time.”
Castle (9-2-1), the second-seeded team from the East, was chasing a possible fifth OIA title. The Knights last won the crown in 1989 under Natalie Sur.
On Thursday, Castle was right there with the dynastic Trojans until the final minutes.
Macadangdang’s free kick sailed high and stayed high, floating above the head of Castle goalkeeper Kaile Kauai and into the net at the 55th minute. That broke a scoreless duel.
“During practice, we do these shots, and I have a hard time keeping the ball low,” said Macadangdang, Mililani’s leading scorer this season. “Coach Ray said aim for their shoulders. Normally, I try placing the ball, but this time I tried striking it.”
Two minutes later, Castle struck for its only goal. Danielle Chang emerged out of a scramble to knock the ball in from about 10 yards out. Coach Millie Dydasco’s squad doused Mililani’s momentum that quickly.
“Then everything went frantic,” Akiona said.
Officials allowed a modicum of contact by either team, no surprise during the playoffs. But Ki‘i Aweau managed to pass the ball to Tehani Furuta just inside the box on the left side, and Furuta delivered a tough dish, sliding through three defenders, to Rodriguez.
“The keeper was to the near (left) post, so I just tapped it to the far post. Then I was stoked,” Rodriguez said.
All eight of Mililani’s second-half shots were on goal as the Trojans stayed beyond midfield instead of peeling back and spreading the defense out.
“We’ve always got to put the ball in frame, try and get the ball off a deflection or a mistake,” Akiona added. “We’ve got people with speed to follow shots.”
Castle was also much more aggressive offensively in the second half with nine shots on goal, but couldn’t get much going in the final 10 minutes. The Trojans kept Castle’s leading scorer, Ciana Rivera, scoreless.
“We watched them against Campbell,” Macadangdang said. “We knew they liked to take opportunities to shoot, and we knew they’re fast.”
The first half was nil-nil, with the visiting Trojans slow to get going offensively. They became the aggressor in the last 10 minutes of the half, however, and tallied 12 shots, half on goal, by intermission. Castle had just one shot on goal among six total shots. The defensive battle was no surprise. Castle had permitted just five goals in 10 regular-season matches and Mililani surrendered only seven.
Next up, Mililani gets a chance to capture its 16th OIA title. The Trojans have won seven under Akiona.
“We have to play really good defense and work together,” Rodriguez said.
Pearl City 1, Moanalua 0
Sunshine Fontes broke a scoreless duel in the 48th minute with a goal from 10 yards out as the normally high-scoring Chargers beat Na Menehune.
Pearl City, featuring the top three scorers in the OIA West, misfired on seven shots on goal in the first half.
The Chargers (9-2-1), the second seed from the West, finished with 21 shots on goal. East top seed Moanalua (10-1-1) mustered five shots on goal.
The defending state champions will meet last year’s OIA champion, Mililani, in the OIA title match on Saturday. The match will follow the D-II title match at around 6:45 p.m.
