Tia Furuta knocks in two goals to squeeze Mililani past Punahou Saturday night. Steve Erler | Special to SL

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Sat, Feb 14, 2015 @ Kamehameha

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Mililani

3

Punahou

2

Final	1st	2nd	OT	2OT	PK	Tot
Mililani (15-1-1)	0	3	-	-	-	3
Punahou (10-2-1)	2	0	-	-	-	2

T. Furuta (2)   A. Zoller    K. Totherow    J. Morikawa

The 2-0 lead is regarded by soccer followers as the "most dangerous lead" in the sport.

For top-seeded Punahou, it rung true.

Mililani overcame a 2-0 halftime deficit with three second-half goals, the game-winning one in the 78th minute by Tia Furuta, to stun the Buffanblu, 3-2, in the quarterfinals of the Outrigger Resorts Division I state girls' soccer tournament Saturday night at Kunuiakea Stadium at Kamehameha-Kapalama.

The Trojans will play Big Island champion and fourth seeded Konawaena in a semifinal, 7 p.m. Friday at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex Main Stadium.

"It felt so amazing," Furuta said of her team's rally. "I have so much faith in our team. They stepped up big time, especially our defense."

Mililani, which rarely trailed this season, much less by two goals, had not allowed more than a goal in each of its previous game until the Buffanblu scored twice on long direct kicks in the first half.

"Psychologically, it's a really dangerous position," Punahou coach Starr Johnson said of the two-goal lead. "A 1-0 lead in much safer because you know it's still close. As soon as you get to 2-0 - we talked about it at halftime; we saw it from Pearl City (which led Campbell, 2-0, before losing in penalty kicks) - it's something that's real, psychologically, and the tide can turn pretty quickly and the momentum can turn pretty quickly. That's a perfect example of what happens in a 2-0 lead in a high-stakes, high-emotion situation."

And it wasn't just the 2-0 lead that the Trojans overcame. They had an apparent goal by Furuta was nullified just before the half on an obstruction call.

"It's all part of the game," Mililani coach Ray Akiona said. "Sometimes you get down and then sometimes you get an opportunity to rally. Once we got that first goal, it kind of lightened up the team after getting the goal taken away. The call was the call. It is what it is, but I think getting (our first) goal into the net kind of changed. It gave us an incentive and the tide kind of changed right after that."

It was the second consecutive game the Buffanblu had allowed three goals after allowing only three in their first 11 games. With the Interscholastic League of Honolulu already clinched, Punahou lost to Iolani, 3-2, in the regular-season finale. Iolani, which beat third-seeded Baldwin, 1-0, to advance to the semifinals, also posted multiple goals in a 2-2 tie with the Raiders earlier. So for the Trojans to score three against the Buffanblu was no small achievement.

"Anytime you can score a goal against Punahou is a feat in itself," Akiona said. "For us to get three, you couldn't ask for more. A better Valentine's Day for everybody on the team."

Each Trojan player had a red rose after the game.

The Trojans, who smashed Kamehameha-Maui, 7-1, in Friday's opening round, labored in the first half. Anue Zoller boomed a direct kick from 45 yards out in the 22nd minute to give Punahou a 1-0 lead.

Lightning struck twice when Kailey Totherow drilled a direct kick from 31 yards 15 minutes later to give the Buffanblu a 2-0 lead.

Just before the half, Furuta had a goal nullified by the obstruction of goalkeeper Noelani Kong-Johnson. Another Mililani player had blocked out the keeper, Furuta said she was told.

Playing with a sense of urgency, the Trojans came out attacking the Buffanblu goal. The six-yard box was jammed with players on both of Mililani's goals that came two minutes apart.

In the 47th minute, Furuta scored from 10 yards on a shot that caromed off a Punahou defender and into the goal.

"I actually miss-hit the ball," she said. "Then it rolled off my foot and it hit the girl and went in."

Two minutes later, Jayna Morikawa scored from 16 yards and all of a sudden, the Trojans were out of their deficit.

But it wasn't all offense for the Trojans. Fullback Malia Napoleon stayed with Punahou's speedy forward Kailie Halvorson, who raced from the Trojans' side of the field to the Buffanblu's side in a matter of seconds. Napoleon stayed with Halvorson, who could not get off a shot or a cross on the break away.

"I knew I had to delay her, keep her in front of me," Napoleon said. "I didn't want her to get around me, try to delay her, then step in when she made a mistake."

The Trojans, who were more on the offensive in the second half than the first, finally took the lead on Furuta's shot from 15 yards.

"It was a cross," she said. "I was just looking for an open shot and took it."

It was big win for the Trojans, who had lost their last six state tournament meetings to Punahou. They had last beaten the Buffanblu in the 2001 quarterfinals, 2-1.

"It's great," Furuta said. "Everything feels surreal. it was a really big win for us. Our confidence is going to build up a lot. We're going to practice extra harder this week."