Baldwin players celebrate after defeating defending state champion Mililani to reach the Division I title game. CJ Caraang | SL

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Fri, Feb 19, 2016 @ Waipio

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Baldwin

2

Mililani

1

Final/PK	1st	2nd	OT	2OT	PK	Tot
Baldwin (11-2-0)	0	1	0	0	1	2
Mililani (14-2-0)	0	1	0	0	0	1

J. Morikawa (65')   K. Smith (73')

WAIPAHU — Call them the queens of the shootout. 

Baldwin knocked off defending state champion Mililani, 2-1 in penalty kicks, in a back-and-forth semifinal game of The Queen's Medical Center/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Girls Soccer Championships Friday night.

A crowd of about 800 at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex was on hand to see the fourth-seeded Bears win their second consecutive game in penalty kicks to back a near-flawless game by freshman goalkeeper Malie Kuia (12 saves). 

Baldwin (11-1), the Maui Interscholastic League champion, will meet Pearl City in the state final Saturday night. 

"You have to give it to them," said Mililani coach Ray Akiona. "They played hard this whole tournament. I wish them the best. They worked hard for it."

Two Baldwin players that missed a shot in penalty kicks against Kamehameha the night before redeemed themselves to seal the deal against the Trojans (13-2).

Both teams made their first two attempts of the shootout before Mililani's Kailana Kaeo's attempt went over the goal. On the Bears' third attempt Bailey Keator feigned to the left before knocking it in towards the right side of the net. 

"I was just telling myself that I could do it and that I have to do it for my team because we worked so hard to get where we are," said Keator. 

After Taylee Miyamura tied things up on the Trojans' fourth attempt, Kacy Lyn Navarro Laumatia put Baldwin up ahead 4-3 to set up a do-or-die situation for the defending champions. 

"Honestly I think I rushed and just jogged there the last time," Navarro Laumatia said about her miss the night before. "Now I learned to take my time and take out all my nerves while walking to where we had to take the shots."

Kasey Isobe, who scored the game-winning goal for Mililani in last year's state final, pushed the next attempt off of the crossbar and Baldwin walked away victorious.

For the Trojans, it was one of the many shots on goal that went over the target. Before the shootout Mililani had 26 total shot attempts. 

"The anxiety got to them," said Akiona. "When you get shots it's good, but shots have to be on target otherwise they don't really mean much. They have to keep the shot focus. That was just it. We weren't mentally focused when we needed to be." 

Baldwin coach Tia Medeiros was proud of her girls' effort and kept the end goal in sight after the match.

"It's going to feel a lot better if we knock off Pearl City tomorrow, but it feels great." said Medeiros, who was a member of the Bears' first state championship-winning team in 2000. "They had us on our heels. At the beginning of that first overtime we were hurting. We hung in there, came back in that second overtime and played a lot better. Almost had a couple of goals, but we were confident heading into the shootout." 

For most of the game Mililani was the aggressor. The Trojans got multiple scoring opportunities, but couldn't find a way to breach the Baldwin defense. The Bears pestered Mililani's top goal scorers, Tia Furuta (20 goals) and Kaeo (19), and prevented them from notching a score in the contest. 

"We reinforced that if we shut those two girls down, we shut down their whole offense," said Medeiros. "I think our defense did a pretty decent job doing that."

The only score that the Trojans earned was after Kuia couldn't corral a shot inside the box from Kaeo cleanly. Jayna Morikawa came streaking through unchallenged from the right side of the field to score on the follow-through in the 65th minute.

But instead of rolling over and conceding to the defending champions, the Bears banded together and manufactured a goal to send it into extra periods. 

Kainoa Dafun drew a free kick near midfield in the 73rd minute and fired a shot that went off the Mililani wall. Kaitlin Smith was able to get behind the defense after the deflection and headed a goal in pass Mililani goalkeeper Andrea Kenagy for the equalizer.

"When the other team scored, the sense of urgency really kicked in," said Smith. "When you have a 50-50 ball like that in the box, someone has to get ahead on it and I was the closest one there. I just prayed it went in the net."

To her credit, Kuia shook off her miscue and held down the fort in the overtime while her team was playing on tired legs, making six total saves in the two extra periods. 

"It really motivated me a lot because it was my fault and I needed to owe back," she said. "I just took a deep breath and though about how badly my teammates needed me." 

Her most impressive save of the night came after Furuta sped past Baldwin's back line and had a clear shot of the goal as the first overtime period winded down. Kuia denied the reigning Offensive Player of the Year from eight yards out and the Bears were able to keep their championship aspirations alive.