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Trojans pass latest test in tough OIA West




Final exams may not be for another week, but the Mililani girls soccer team passed another big test Tuesday night.

With their 4-2 win over visiting Kapolei, the Trojans moved into sole possession of first place atop the Western Division standings of the Oahu Interscholastic Association at 5-0.

It was the second straight win over a previously-unbeaten opponent for longtime coach Ray Akiona's squad, which was coming off a pivotal 3-1 victory over defending Division I state champion Pearl City six days prior.

Despite the fact that both Kapolei and Mililani had allowed just one goal each through its first four matches, the six combined goals Tuesday did not take Akiona by surprise.

"I knew that Kapolei was dynamic," Akiona said. "They've got some leading scorers on their team and we're trying to improve on our scoring, so I think the effort on both teams was putting balls in the net and it proved that way. It was fast, quick and a lot of attacks, so I kind of expected that tempo and aggressiveness to be there as far as scoring."

Mililani scored three first-half goals against the Hurricanes, including the game's first two scores in the first 11 minutes of action.

All that scoring was just what the doctor ordered for the Trojans.

"We needed help on finishing; that was our main thing, mostly finishing, so I think we finally got past that and following goals was a big thing," said junior halfback Randi Macadangdang, who scored twice in a six-minute span in the first half. "We kind of had a lot of things we had to work on and we're finally jelling together and putting it on the field."

Macadangdang said the Trojans are seemingly finding their stride following their wins over Pearl City and Kapolei after a rocky start to the year.

"It was honestly really big for us because in preseason we kind of had a rough time jelling together, so we knew these two games were going to be challenge for us so we wanted to put it together for our coaches and prove ourselves to everyone and to continue on from Pearl City and keep the momentum going," Macadangdang said.

Chaylyn Navares, who scored once against the Chargers and twice against the Hurricanes, said first place in the West wasn't the only motivating factor for the team.

"Every year we have to earn our white shorts and after Pearl City we earned our white shorts, so that was a lot of motivation to keep going and to show our coaches that we can do even better than we did before," said Navares, who credited her coaches for getting the players in the right frame of mind to avoid a letdown against Kapolei.

"They did a good job of remind us to play every game with the most intensity we can and that every game is like a ‘Pearl City' game, in that, no matter who our opponent is, we have to go in with a hundred percent and going into this match, I think we realized that was what we needed to do."

It was as if Navares took the words right out of her coach's mouth.

"Any time you have a good game against a top team like Pearl City, you've got to keep that level of play up," Akiona said. "You work so hard to get there and then that's your standard now; You've got to try to maintain that start or even better it, so I think the girls understand that it's not one game at a time, it's progressing through each game. The thing about this team is they understand that we've got to keep moving in that positive direction, so tonight was good for us."

The Trojans return to the field Thursday when they host Waipahu (2-1).



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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