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Leighland Tagawa | Special to SLFebruary 2, 2017, 11:10pm
Thu, Feb 2, 2017 @ Waipio
WAIPAHU — Mililani cruised its way to a 3-1 victory over Aiea in the quarterfinal round of The Queen's Medical Center/HHSAA Division I tournament at Waipio Soccer Peninsula Stadium on Thursday night.
The Trojans remain undefeated and now have a record of 12-0-2 on the season. They are currently on a five-game winning streak and will play Iolani in the semifinals in a 5 p.m. match.
The last time Mililani dropped points was against Na Alii during the regular season. The two teams battled to a 2-2 draw on Jan. 6.
Aiea's record now stands at 10-3-3 on the season. The loss broke the Na Alii's three game-winning streak.
Early on, both teams were unable to string together their passes and neither team was able to create any decent shots on goal.
"The first game in is always a difficult one," said Mililani coach Ray Akiona. "The anxieties, the anticipations, we took a long time to settle in."
Eventually, Mililani settled down and senior Randi Macadangdang would open the scoring in the 12th minute to make it 1-0. She is Mililani's leading goal scorer with 10 goals so far this season.
Macadangdang collected the ball near the touchline and dribbled without any pressure toward the Aiea goal. She took a long shot and it found the bottom left corner of the net. The Aiea keeper was not in the best position when Macadangdang took her shot.
After the score, Mililani dominated the rest of the first half.
When the second half started, Mililani kept on dominating the possession and pace of the game. Their pressure paid off in the 52nd minute when senior Tia Rodriguez scooped the ball over the diving Aiea keeper and calmly slotted it home.
Rodriguez would double her goal tally in the 65th minute to make it 3-0. After she stripped the ball away from Aiea on her half of the field, she dribbled the ball all the way down to the Aiea goal and beat the Aiea keeper from close range.Tia Rodriguez has now scored six goals on the season.
"We are excited," said Rodriguez. "We were able to pull it together and we played our game."
Mililani does not have a prolific striker like it had in the past. After losing 2015 All-Hawaii Offensive Player of the Year Tia Furuta to graduation, the Trojans needed to find ways to score goals. This year, many of the Trojans have contributed in the scoring column. Out of the 24 players listed on their roster, 16 of them have scored at least once during the season.
"That is one of the things we have been stressing this year," said Akiona. "Everybody is an attacker. I don't care where you are coming from. That's what we need as a team. I hope that they all understand that they all have the responsibility that when we have the ball we are on offense."
After Rodriguez's goals, Aiea switched gears and sent center back Tiana Ono up top to help in the attack. That seemed to help Aiea maintain possession in the Mililani half of the field.
Aiea freshmen Jenna Turne would score a late consolation goal in the 79th minute to make it 3-1. Turne now has 4 goals on the season.
Rodriguez said the Trojans will have to focus on what they can control against the Raiders in the semifinals.
"Tomorrow against Iolani, we just have to play our game like we always do," said Rodriguez. "There are a few players on Iolani that are quite fast but we just have to play our game."
Aiea will play in the consolation bracket at 3 p.m. against Hilo.
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