Castle freshman Justin Katayama (2) is greeted by fellow freshman Rider MacMillan (18) after scoring the match's opening goal in the OIA Division II title game. Michael Lasquero | SL

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Sat, Jan 27, 2024 @ Kapolei

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Waipahu

0

Castle

4

Final	1st	2nd	OT	2OT	PK	Tot
Waipahu (3-10-1)	0	0	-	-	-	0
Castle (8-5-2)	4	0	-	-	-	4

R. MacMillan (20’, 40’)   J. Katayama (4’)   D. Turcios (21’)

KAPOLEI — Castle scored early and often in a 4-0 rout of Waipahu to claim its first league championship in more than 30 years Saturday night. 

A crowd of about 400 fans at Kapolei's Alvin Nagasako Sports Complex saw the Knights (7-3-2) dominate the Marauders (3-8-1) in the title game of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II boys soccer tournament. 

Rider MacMillan scored a pair of goals and Justin Katayama tallied a pair of assists and one goal to lead Castle, the top seed out of the Eastern Division, to its first league crown since 1991. 

"It feels really good. We haven't won in a long time and we can say we're champions now," said MacMillan, one of eight freshmen for the Knights, who did all of their scoring in the first half.

It was an especially redeeming moment for Castle coach Jordyn Yahata, who was a player for the Knights the last time they played for an OIA D2 championship back in 2012. 

"The words are escaping me right now. It's just mind blowing to be back in this position and getting the win off of this. You know, last time we came runners-up and that was so crushing for us — I still remember the bus ride back — but coming here, having a pretty resounding victory feels really good," Yahata said. "This one goes to Kaneohe."

The Knights feature a lineup loaded with underclassmen, including their entire starting 11. The group turned heads early on with a season-opening win over a veteran Kailua team that went on to finish as the top D1 team in the Eastern Division. 

"When the season started I didn't know what was going to happen," Yahata said. "We heard that we were going to get a bunch of upcoming freshmen, that they were the best of the best, (but) I didn't expect them to be the starters, right; I didn't expect them to take us to the championship."

MacMillan and Katayama are two of the talented ninth graders. Both factored heavily into the final result Saturday. 

"Huge, yeah. I mean, they created their own opportunities, they created opportunities for others," Yahata said of the pair. "Very selfless players, but also can finish when needed."

Katayama found the back of the net just four minutes into the match. He received a pass up the right flank and fended off a trio of Waipahu defenders as he gathered the ball before he fired a right-footed shot from just inside the 18-yard box into the lower right corner of the net. 

MacMillan said Katayama's goal set the tone early. 

"Scoring that first goal was important. We needed to show who's the bigger dogs in the first half," MacMillan said. 

Castle doubled up its lead in the 20th minute and added to it a minute later. After Kekoa Tani's initial shot was deflected by Waipahu goalkeeper Evan Baptista, but it ricocheted to the back post, where MacMillan put away the one-timer to give his team a 2-0 lead. 

"I knew (Tani) was going to shoot it and I knew the goalkeeper was going to deflect it, so I just had to finish it through and score the goal," MacMillan said. 

Not long after MacMillan scored, Takayama found Damon Turcios with a well-placed pass up the right flank. Turcios separated from the Marauder defense and beat Baptista on the one-on-one opportunity. 

The Knights cashed in on another chance just seconds before halftime, when Takayama connected a pass to MacMillan in front of the 6-yard box. MacMillan fired a right-footed rocket into the lower right corner of the goal to make it a 4-0 lead. 

"Justin got it to me and it ricocheted to me and I just touched it to the side and I just hit it in the bottom right," MacMillan described. 

Castle recorded six of its eight shots on goal before halftime. It attempted 11 corner kicks to just one for Waipahu, which tallied all three of its shots on goal after halftime. 

The Knights, who were coming off of a 6-0 blanking of Leilehua in Thursday's semifinal round, have recorded seven shutouts this season.

"Our defense really held it down back there throughout the season and today," Yahata said. 

Waipahu was seeking its second league crown and first since 2011. 

The Marauders went 0-5-1 through their first six games this year but finished as the top seed out of the Western Division. 

Both teams, along with Leilehua, will represent the OIA in the Motiv8 Foundation/HHSAA D2 state tournament, Feb. 8-10 at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.