Punahou goalkeeper Tyler Ohata makes a save to deny a Mid-Pacific goal. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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MANOA — It didn't win the game, but the Punahou boys soccer team did lay claim to the league title in the process.

By virtue of its scoreless tie with host Mid-Pacific Friday afternoon, Punahou wrapped up its first Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship since 2013 and a consequent first-round bye in the Division I state tournament later this month.

A crowd of about 200 spectators were on hand for the final regular season game for both teams.

The Buffanblu completed an undefeated ILH season with a 9-0-3 mark and 30 points — three ahead of the second-place Owls, who finished 8-1-3 in league play. Both teams had already clinched a spot in the 12-team state tournament prior to Friday's game.

After the match, Punahou coach David Trifonovitch took the achievement in stride.

"I guess it feels good, but the thing about the ILH is it's such a strong league that we're not always focused on an ILH championship and we're always focused on state qualifying," Trifonovitch said. "We kind of had that big thrill in our last game, against Iolani, when we qualified for state, so we wanted the (ILH) championship, but it's just one piece of the puzzle for these guys."

Mid-Pacific, which moved up to D1 after winning the last two D2 state titles, needed a win Friday to force a one game, winner-take-all playoff.

"I think right now the boys, and the team as a whole, is just disappointed with the result of coming up a little short and not winning the ILH and doing all this work and preparation and just coming up a little short," Owls coach Jayson Abe said. "We figured it might come down to this game and it did and I thought we played well, (but) we just came up a little short."

Abe's squad certainly had its chances. The Owls registered 10 shots on goal to five for Punahou. Furthermore, they had six corner kicks — four of them coming int he second half — to just one for the visitors.

"I thought we had our opportunities today," Abe said. "I thought we had a lot of opportunities. We had a real good game. I thought we had a good and fair amount of possession. I think it's just one of those games where we just couldn't find the back of the net, unfortunately."

Mid-Pacific senior forward Tyler Allen, the leading goal scorer in the ILH, kept the Buffanblu defense busy throughout the afternoon. He had three near-scores in the first 18 minutes of the game.

"He's certainly a game changer," Abe said of Allen, who signed with UNLV earlier this month. "He's a very dynamic player and can create a lot of havoc for opposing defenses. He draws a lot of attention, which frees up other guys and he can make something out of nothing at any given time so I think opposing defenses respect that and respect him for that."

Tyler Ohata, Punahou's senior goalkeeper, made 10 saves, including several of the spectacular variety. His last save may have been his best. It came on what was the best scoring opportunity of the afternoon for the Owls when Allen dropped off a pass to teammate Payton Boyd on the left wing. Boyd had a one-on-one shot against Ohata from about 12 yards out, but Ohata denied him, much to the delight of his Buffanblu teammates.

"That last save was great and so was the one in the first half that deflected off somebody and changed direction and he was able to just push it up over the crossbar; that's just good reaction," Trifonovitch said. "He didn't get tested a lot this year, but we know he's a good keeper and he came up huge when he needed to."

Punahou has not allowed a goal in six straight games — since a 1-1 tie against MPI on Jan. 18. Eight of its nine victories have been shutouts. Opponents have managed just two goals against the Buffanblu this year.

Trifonovitch, whose team finished second to Iolani in each of the past two ILH seasons, said there was no thought of playing it safe Friday.

"We were going for a win," Trifonovitch said. "We didn't even think about playing more defensively, we didn't change our formation — in fact, we changed our formation in the first half to play more offensively. It wasn't a matter of sitting back and hoping for the tie. We really didn't think about the tie. We knew about it — in the back of our minds it was there — but we wanted to win."

It was the first time the Owls — who had won four of their last five matches — were shutout this season.

"I thought (Punahou) would come out and give us a game and I thought they did that in the first half," Abe said. "I thought in the second half they knew what they needed to do to move on and win the ILH, so you can't fault them for being a lot more conservative defensively, but even with that we just didn't find the back of the net and I thought we had some opportunities — some real good ones, too."

The Queen's Medical Center/HHSAA State Tournament runs from Feb. 24 to 27 at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.