Taking up her solitary station in goal, Kendal Stovall knew she wasn’t alone between the posts.
“I just prayed to my grandma,” the Kamehameha senior said of her thoughts prior to a shootout with a state tournament berth at stake.
“She passed away recently. I asked her to be with me during this game and to tell her that I’m thinking of her every day.”
After 100 scoreless minutes — 80 in regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods — Kamehameha and ‘Iolani went to penalty kicks to decide the ILH girls soccer first-round title, which comes with a state tournament berth, in Friday’s playoff match on Eddie Hamada Field.
Stovall gave Kamehameha the edge with a diving save, and after ‘Iolani’s next shot hit the post, D’awncey Jones-Black’s goal clinched a 4-2 win in the shootout to send the Warriors to states.
“That’s huge for us mentally just because we weren’t there last year,” Kamehameha coach Missy Moore said after the 1-0 victory. “It’s so hard to get out of the ILH that any time you can get to states, no matter if you’re seeded No. 1 or seeded No. 2, is awesome.”
With one of the ILH’s two state berths secure, Kamehameha will focus on earning the league’s overall championship in the upcoming single-elimination tournament. The Warriors open the tournament at home on Thursday against the winner of Tuesday’s match between fourth-seeded Mid-Pacific and fifth-seeded Pac-Five.
Defending state champion ‘Iolani plays host to third-seeded Punahou on Thursday and can clinch the other state berth with a win.
“We just have to work harder,” ‘Iolani coach Kristin Masunaga said. “It’s a more difficult path, but we’re not out of it.”
‘Iolani and Kamehameha split their regular-season meetings and both had a tie with Punahou to close the first round at 9-1-1 and force Friday’s playoff match.
Kamehameha pressured the Raiders for much of regulation, earning nine corner kicks while taking 23 shots to ‘Iolani’s six in a physical battle.
But ‘Iolani junior Musuai Isaia punched away threats while coming up with 17 saves to preserve the scoreless tie through the second overtime.
“She played really well. … She saved us the last time we played Kamehameha,” Masunaga said, referring to the Raiders’ 1-0 win on Dec. 21.
In the shootout, Kamehameha’s Kylie Minamishin and Kaulana Kanno made their shots and Stovall dove to her right to stop a low drive and give the Warriors a 2-1 edge.
“Honestly I just put everything out of my mind,” said Stovall, who split time with Chaylea Tome in regulation and overtime. “I wasn’t thinking at all. I couldn’t hear the crowd. Frankly, I couldn’t even see the shooter. I saw the ball and jumped and ended up saving it.
“There wasn’t much tactic to it or anything, no skill. It was just straight reaction. … It was like beast mode. It just came out of me.”
Isaia answered with a diving save of her own, but the Raiders’ next attempt hit the left post and Jones-Black’s shot into the left corner sealed the win for Kamehameha.
“We have been practicing PKs for the last week because we knew it could come down to that,” Moore said.