Mililani rallies past Moanalua, 6-1, to reach OIA final

Mililani's Kailana Kaeo tries to get by a Moanalua defender. She scored two goals in the Trojans' semifinal victory. CJ Caraang | SL

KAPOLEI — Kailana Kaeo and Tia Furuta scored two goals apiece to help Mililani rally to a 6-1 win over Moanalua in the nightcap of a semifinal doubleheader at Kapolei Stadium Thursday night.

The Trojans (11-1) won their ninth consecutive game to advance to Saturday night's Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I Tournament final against Western Division rival Pearl City.

Na Menehune (9-2-1) dropped their first match since Jan. 6.

Freshman Kelci Sumida scored her team-leading 11th goal of the season in the fourth minute to give Moanalua an early lead.

However, Kaeo scored the equalizer in the eighth minute for Mililani, which took the lead for good on Tehani Furuta's goal in the 20th minute.

"Anytime someone scores on you early, it's always kind of wakes you up and gets you started," Mililani coach Ray Akiona said. "It was a good goal they had, so you've just got to take it and learn from it and move on and get better."

The Trojans held a 2-1 lead at halftime.

Tia Furuta scored twice within a five-minute span early in the second half and Kaeo added her second goal in the 56th minute. Tia Furuta now has 18 goals and Kaeo 17 on the year.

"This team is very casual and calm and I think the coaches are a little bit more stressed than they are, but I give them credit, they stayed within our gameplan and controlled the ball on the ground where we needed it to be. They didn't lose control," Akiona said of his squad.

Tayzha Furuta added a late goal in the final minute for Mililani.

Moanalua freshman goalkeeper Naomi Takata was injured in the 14th minute and was helped off the field by athletic trainers. She did not return to the game.

Mililani and Pearl City will play at 7 p.m. Saturday at Kapolei.

The Trojans will be playing in their first OIA final since 2013, when they won their last of 14 league titles.

"It's been a while," Akiona said. "We haven't been there in a few years so we wanted to be there."

Moanalua will face Castle in the third-place game at 7 p.m. Friday at Aiea.

Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].