Kaiser senior midfielder Yuki Enomoto, who knocked in the final goal for the Cougars, tries to dribble the ball past a Kalani defender. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Purchase image 1 of 1

The Kaiser boys soccer team found itself in a rather precarious situation Tuesday afternoon.

In the closing seconds of the first half of Tuesday's OIA East game against rival Kalani, junior forward Makana Srivongsana was disqualified as a result of two first-half yellow cards, leaving the Cougars without the league's leading goal scorer for the final 40 minutes.

At that point, fight or flight were the only two options for Layne Abalos' team.

Instead of buckling under the pressure — Kaiser was forced to play a man down in the second half — it rose to the occasion, holding the host Falcons scoreless the rest of the way while adding an insurance goal in the 53rd minute.

"We used that negativity and turned it into energy and used it to work even harder than we were in the first half," said senior midfielder Yuki Enomoto, who knocked in the final goal for the Cougars.

Kalani, which had won three straight and scored a goal in seven of their first eight matches of the season entering Tuesday, was limited to just two shots on goal after halftime and five for the game. It managed just two corner kick opportunities — both coming in the first half.

"That's probably the best they've played all year, or as aggressive as they've played all year," Kalani coach Michael Ching said of Kaiser. "They clearly just were up for the game a little bit more than us today."

The Cougars dropped another player back on defense to start the second half, but still had the better run of play for most of the period.

"Basically to protect our side of the field," said Abalos, Kaiser's first-year coach. "t's a small field here, but yet we spread the field. I mean, you've got to give our guys credit; they did exactly what we asked them to do."

Srivongsana, who has 17 goals on the season, is a big loss in any circumstance, but Abalos was pleased to see his team finish out the game without him.

"In the past I think we were reliant on him a hundred percent to score all our goals," Abalos said. "He is just an unbelievable type of player, but this year we're a team and I'm very proud of us. We're a team."

Enomoto said overcoming the loss of Srivongsana required a collective effort, but worked out in the end.

"I think it all came through at the end because our coaches helped organize our back line and our offense," Enomoto said. "Having a man down actually helped organize the team."

The win helped the Cougars bounce back from a 3-3 tie against Roosevelt Saturday — the lone blemish on their 8-0-1 record.

"That game really humbled us and taught us that we really aren't the best team and we've always got to bring our A-game, no matter who we play," Enomoto said.

Ching said he was cautious of Kaiser, especially after the unexpected tie against the Rough Riders.

"They got their wake-up call, so I knew they were going to come in ready, but I think just with the Kalani-Kaiser rivalry in general, we knew they were going to play as hard as they can," Ching said.

Kaiser wrapped up the East's top seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming OIA Division I tournament and can punch their ticket to the state tournament with a win in the quarterfinal round.

The Cougars have one game left in the regular season — against Kalaheo Saturday — but Abalos said he is looking forward to the opening-round bye in the 12-team tournament.

"It'll rest our tired legs," Abalos said. "In the Roosevelt game — no excuses, but we had some guys out, we had some guys sick — and that was tough. We need to rest some legs, for sure."