Freshman Kaydee Nakamitsu (right, purple jersey) filled in for starting GK Beatrice Haak, who was injured pregame, and came up with a crucial save to help Kalani edge Leilehua in a PK shootout. Michael Lasquero | SL

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Kalani's Kaydee Nakamitsu puts up a goal kick in the first half against Leilehua Michael Lasquero | SL

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Kalani's Kaiulani Nishigaya and Chiara Doyle hug after going up 2-1 in the first half against Leilehua. Michael Lasquero | SL

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Sat, Jan 20, 2024 @ Kapolei

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Leilehua

2

Kalani

3

Final/PK	1st	2nd	OT	2OT	PK	Tot
Leilehua (7-8-0)	1	1	0	0	4	2
Kalani (8-5-2)	2	0	0	0	5	3

C. Moniz-Kealoha (62')   C. Moniz-Kealoha (62')   A. Nakamoto (1')   C. Doyle (11')

KAPOLEI — A little adversity is nothing new for the Kalani girls soccer team. 

The Falcons overcame their share of adversity Saturday to lay claim to their first league championship. 

Freshman Kaydee Nakamitsu stepped up in a big way with a pivotal save in the fifth and final round of a penalty kick shootout to lift Kalani to thrilling 3-2 win over Leilehua in the title game of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II tournament at Kapolei's Alvin Nagasako Sports Complex. 

The score was tied at 2 after 100 minutes of play — 80 minutes of regulation followed by a pair of 10-minute overtime periods — before the Falcons edged the Mules, 5-4, in the penalty kick portion of the contest. 

"It feels amazing to help this team and I feel like me and the team have been through a lot with the games and practice and we really bonded over them together and so now it feels super amazing to win with them," said Nakamitsu, who typically plays the forward position and entered the game as Kalani's second leading goal scorer. 

However, an injury to starting goalkeeper Beatrice Haak during pre-game warm-ups forced Nakamitsu to move between the posts. 

"We were actually very fortunate that we had a backup ‘keeper," Kalani coach Jillian Okamoto said of Nakamitsu. "She normally plays forward for us normally when Beatrice is in the goal and she came through right when we needed her."

Kalani's Kaydee Nakamitsu puts up a goal kick in the first half against Leilehua Michael Lasquero | SL    Purchase image

As if Haak's injury wasn't enough of a curveball, the Falcons fell behind just 12 seconds into the game when Leilehua's Alexyz Nakamoto, the league's leading goal scorer, found the back of the net. 

Kalani's backline was out of sync on the play and Nakamoto took full advantage. She gathered the loose ball deep in Falcons' territory, split a pair of defenders with a touch to her right, then shot it back across to the left side of the goal, out of the reach of Nakamitsu. 

"It kind of freaked me out but then I knew I had to be more calm and I couldn't let it bother me," Nakamitsu said of the early goal. "I had to keep my mentality good and then I had to make sure that the team knows that I'm not backing down so that we can keep going."

Nakamitsu said the frantic sequence rattled her at first but eventually helped her to calm her nerves. 

"I was pretty nervous but then I realized that I needed to calm down in order to play and that if I didn't calm down I probably would be making more mistakes because in the beginning I was pretty nervous but then I started to get the hang of it and I just started to breathe," Nakamitsu said. 

Only a few minutes later, Kalani was able to equalize on a direct free kick by its leading scorer, Kaiulani Nishigaya. A foul on the Mules gave Nishigaya a look from about 32 yards out on the left flank and she lofted a right-footed shot just over the outstretched arms of goalie Jaedys Agdinaoay. 

"Going into this game I knew that my coaches just told me to rip the ball and that's what I wanted to do and I know that scoring for my team was really going to help pick up the energy and make us want to win even more," Nishigaya said. 

The Mules had a pair of quality chances in the eighth and ninth minutes, but Nakamoto's shot was saved by Nakamitsu both times. 

The Falcons pulled ahead in the 11th minute when the Leilehua defense failed to clear a ball in its own territory. Chiara Doyle shot it from distance over Agdinaoay and into the top left corner of the net for a Kalani goal. 

Kalani's Kaiulani Nishigaya and Chiara Doyle hug after going up 2-1 in the first half against Leilehua. Michael Lasquero | SL    Purchase image

Okamoto noted that both Doyle and Nishigaya have been stalwarts in the final third. 

"Those two are our go-to, I would say, shooters from long distance and we drilled it into them that we need to take the shots from the outside. Whatever opportunity, — a quick shot — and test the goalie and they got two in," Okamoto said. 

Leilehua got a couple of corner kicks during a two-minute sequence midway through the first half, but was unable to recycle either opportunity into a shot on goal. 

Kalani had a chance to add to its lead before halftime, but Sarah Miyazawa's shot in the 25th minute missed just wide right of the goal. She had another opportunity in the 33rd minute after a cross from Nishigaya, but Miyazawa's shot hit the crossbar. 

The Mules instead equalized in the 62nd minute, when Nakamoto had a look at an open goal, but she was forced to take a shot from a tough angle near the end line and it just trickled in front of the goal. However, the ball eventually found the feet of Cali Moniz-Kealoha on the backside of the play and the freshman booted a shot from more than 20 yards out into the top left corner of the goal to tie it at 2. 

The Falcons nearly beat the buzzer at the end of regulation after Nishigaya fired a rocket from about 25 yards out, but her shot deflected off the hands of the goalkeeper and off the crossbar just seconds before the teams went to overtime. 

After two 10-minute overtime periods, the match was eventually decided by a penalty kick shootout. 

Both teams converted their first four PKs — Zoe Maikai, Maci Rivera, Nakamoto and Moniz-Kealoha in that order for Leilehua and Nishigaya, Mia Shizumura, Riley Asato and Doyle chronologically for Kalani — before it came down to the final round. 

That's when Nakamitsu clutched up. 

Nakamitsu made a sprawling save to her left to deny Leilehua's fifth shooter before Kira-May Nosse converted her PK into the right side of the goal to ignite Kalani's celebration. 

"It felt really good, but I was really confident in Kira and so it felt good seeing her put it in, I was so happy for her," said Nakamitsu, who guessed correctly on her key save to set Nosse up for the game-winning PK. 

"That one I didn't really see and I kind of just guessed to the left," Nakamitsu said. 

Okamoto said the early goal allowed by her team was a gut punch right off the bat, but credited her bunch for remaining resilient over the course of the 99-plus minutes of play that remained. 

"You know, that was a shocker, but they came back, hung in there, kept the score tie-tie and whew, we practice our PKs on our little makeshift goal and we came through," Okamoto said. 

The Falcons have endured a season without a regulation length field to practice on due to an ongoing construction project. 

"Our field is getting worked on (so) we do practice at Waialae Iki (park) and we do run to the field for a warm-up. I mean, it is different, but with our coaches, they make practice always a good experience and they really know what we need to work on and it doesn't matter the size of the field, we just have to work hard together as a team," Nishigaya expressed. 

It was Kalani's first game that went to a PK shootout this season, but Nishigaya noted that it has been a consistent part of the team's preparations for the postseason.

"We did practice PKs at the field and I think we knew, and our coaches told us, just to stay calm and shoot the ball and that's what we did," she said. 

Nishigaya, a senior, credited the freshman Nakamitsu for delivering in a high-stress situation. 

"I think we knew going into this game it was going to be a hard one, but I think as a team we just came together and we knew we had to pick it up after that first goal and our ‘keeper being out, but luckily Kaydee, she came in and I really appreciate her for that," Nishigaya said. 

Okamoto affirmed her trust in Nakamitsu, who recorded 10 total saves. 

"She always comes out confident and we had all the faith that she'd do great and she did," Okamoto said. 

Kalani tallied 10 shots on goal, while Leilehua had a dozen. 

Trishelle Dalindin came off the bench to record seven saves in goal for the Mules. 

Leilehua was seeking its second OIA D2 title in three years and fourth overall. 

Kalani reached the OIA Division I final in 2006 and 2010 — but lost to Mililani both times — and played for a D2 crown in 2015, but lost to Waialua, 1-0. 

"It feels amazing and to know that we just came together as a team is even more better," Nishigaya said. 

The Falcons have not lost since Dec. 28 (at Moanalua, 1-0), a string of six consecutive games without a defeat. 

Both teams will represent the OIA in the Motiv8 Foundation/HHSAA State Championships, which runs rom Jan. 31 to Feb. 3 at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.