‘Iolani was lucky to avoid a bizarro loss on penalty kicks after controlling 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime Tuesday against Moanalua.

Eventually, the Raiders’ Taylor Venenciano — with the 22nd PK — shot into the low left of the goal for a 9-8 count in the shootout and a 1-0 victory in the Division I opening-round game of The Queen’s Medical Center/HHSAA Girls Soccer State Championships.

“I was yelling a lot and my head was hurting, so I was getting headaches after every time I yelled,” Venenciano said. “I was looking down for most of the penalty kicks and listening to the cheers. The last time before I had to go up I was flat on the ground. I didn’t want to get up.”

Then, after notching the winning goal, Venenciano said, “I just stuck to the game plan. We practiced it a lot and I knew I didn’t have to do anything different. It worked the first time (she scored a PK earlier), so I knew it was not going to not work the second time.”

After the initial PK portion (five shooters each) ended in a 4-4 deadlock, the next part of PKs came into play — one shooter each. But the Raiders (11-3-1) and Na Menehune (10-3-1) traded goals or non-goals until the tally reached 8-8.

That’s when ‘Iolani goalkeeper Musuai Isaia — who played all of regulation and OT but gave way to Ryan Taylor Keliikuli-Kennedy after overtime — returned to the match and stopped the next two Na Menehune shots. But Moanalua keeper Alexis Davis made a save of her own and the score remained 8-8, leading to Venenciano’s big moment.

Asked how she would have felt if the unseeded Raiders lost, Venenciano said, “Horrible” and then laughed in relief.

That possible negative outcome seemed inconceivable all afternoon due to how much ‘Iolani controlled the action. Before PKs, the Raiders’ Mia Watanabe hit the post twice and Kelsey Takahashi rocketed one off the crossbar. Twice, shots by the Raiders lobbed just over the crossbar and settled into the netting on top of the goal. On many other occasions, ‘Iolani shot just high or just wide or got robbed by Davis.

“It’s been a problem all season,” Raiders coach Kristin Masunaga said about the lack of finishing skill. “It’s been a struggle, very frustrating. Sometimes that’s just how it is. We need to figure it out for Thursday.”

That’s when the Raiders meet third-seeded Hilo in the quarterfinals at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.

Despite not spending much time in the ‘Iolani end, unseeded Moanalua — led by Jolina Saroca, Megan Dalit, Diana Cabalang and Shayna Casupang — was tenacious defensively, especially in close to the goal.

“It was jaw-breaking that we didn’t get it,” Saroca said. “But we kept striving to the end and did our best regardless.”

Added Na Menehune coach Nikki Dela Pena: “Every player on this bench had to step on the field and some of them haven’t played all season. But all of them stepped up and played at such a competitive level. They gave everything. This loss is nothing for these girls to hold their heads down about.”