Kamehameha-Maui knocks off Mililani, 2-0, to advance


Kamehameha-Maui's Chase Nakagawa attempt to dribble past a Mililani defender. Joshua Lopez | Special to SL

WAIPAHU — Kailoa Akoi and Micah Alo each scored in the first seven minutes to lift Kamehameha-Maui to a 2-0 win over five-time state champion Mililani Wednesday.

The Warriors, who finished as runners-up in the Maui Interscholastic League, improved to 10-0-3 and will play Kealakehe in a quarterfinal game of the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Boys Soccer State Championships Thursday.

"It's a quality team, Mililani is a quality team and going into it we knew that we would have our hands full," Kamehameha-Maui coach Kimo Correa said.

Akoi opened the scoring in the third minute to quickly put the Warriors ahead.

"Before the game we were watching film and we noticed the goalie does play high and when I got that bouncing through-ball and I took a little peek up and I saw that he was playing high — off his toes, on his heels — so I just figured I'd shoot," Akoi said.

Just four minutes later, Alo extended his team's lead with another quick goal.

"That first goal was very fortunate," Correa said. "I don't know if my center-mid saw that the keeper was out, but he just banged it over the keeper's head — the keeper was quite far out — so we were fortunate to get that first one off and then the second one came pretty quickly after that, so the boys played well."

The Warriors reached the semifinal round last year before losing to eventual state-champ Kalani, 2-1.

"Every year is a different year, of course, and we're hungry to get back there, but we needed to take care of Mililani to get to Kealakehe and (Thursday) we've got to see what we've got, see if we can play with Kealakehe, because they have a great program, they've been going at it for a while and their coach is a hell of a coach and those boys from the Big Island, I know they want it to," Correa said. "Our boys are hungry for it, we'll just take it one game at a time."

Despite last year's success, Akoi said the Warriors relished the role of underdog entering the tournament.

"Every team from Maui pretty much gets underestimated and then we get here and knock out a team like Mililani, and they're a great team, so it feels real good," Akoi said.

Kamehameha-Maui and Kealakehe, the No. 4 seed and Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion, will meet in a 1 p.m. quarterfinal in the main stadium.

Mililani, the OIA's third-place team, fell to 12-2 and will play Moanalua in a 1 p.m. consolation game.

WEDNESDAY'S OTHER FIRST-ROUND RESULTS:

KALANI 3, MOANALUA 2 (Penalty kicks): The Falcons led 1-0 at halftime and took a 2-0 lead just after halftime only to see Na Menehune tie it with two second-half goals of their own. The teams played two scoreless, 10-minute overtime periods before going to penalty kicks, where Kalani won, 5-4.

"Moanalua beat us in the regular season and they say that 2-0 is the most dangerous score and once (Moanalua) got that (first) goal, you knew their spirits were up and we were going to be a dogfight, but credit to them, they're a really good team," Falcons' coach Michael Ching said.

Ryan Bui, Toshihiro Kosins, Raymond Alves, Kai Abihai and Marc Teshima converted their penalty kicks for the Falcons, who overcame a injury to midfielder Shawn Donnelly in the first half. 

"We got a little rattled, but I think the experience from today will hopefully push us tomorrow and years to come," Ching said.

Kyle Ichiyama scored in the 37th minute and Teshima in the 41st minute to give Kalani a 2-0 lead, but Jeffrey Kotani and Treston Ijiri scored for Moanalua in the 42nd and 69th minutes, respectively, to tie it.

"Coming off the field after regulation, they were yelling at each other because they really wanted it," Ching said. "Their heads were down, they were kind of devastated and it they were in a position that they needed to bounce back and it took us a long time to do it."

The Oahu Interscholastic Association runner-up Falcons improved to 11-3 and will play Interscholastic League of Honolulu-titlist and tournament top-seed Iolani in a 7 p.m. quarterfinal in the main stadium Thursday. Moanalua, the sixth-place team from the OIA, draws Mililani in a consolation game at 1 p.m.

KAPOLEI 3, HILO 0: CJ Harvey scored twice and Marcelo Dadino added a goal and the Hurricanes (13-3) shutout the Vikings (10-5-1). Harvey scored in the 12th and 33rd minutes and Dadino found the net in the 18th minute to lift Kapolei, the OIA's fourth-place team, into Thursday's quarterfinal round, where they will play Maui Interscholastic League-champion and No. 2-seed Baldwin at 3 p.m. in the main stadium. Hilo plays Pearl City in a 1 p.m. consolation game.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].