Team leading scorers Duncan McKenna of Punahou (left) and Jamin Fonseca of Mililani (right) hope to lead their squads in capturing the Koa Trophy as they advance to the quarterfinals round. Sylvia Lee | SL

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MILILANI — The chase for the Division I Queen's Medical Center Boys Soccer State Championship began Monday afternoon, and Punahou is ready to defend its crown.

A pair of sophomores helped propel the Buffanblu (9-2-2 ILH) to a 2-0 shutout victory over Kalani (7-1-2 OIA) at John Kauinana Stadium at Mililani High School on Monday night.

Dane Mizuno scored the first goal of the game in the first half at the 30-minute mark while Micah Williams gave Punahou an insurance goal, scoring late in the fourth minute of added stoppage time.

For Mizuno, it was his first goal of season and it couldn't have happened at a better time. Williams had previously scored against Kamehameha in a 4-1 victory back in early December.

The defending champions advance to play fourth-seed Kealakehe (11-2-1 BIIF) Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium. The Waveriders are coming off their sixth-straight Big Island Interscholastic Federation title.

Both teams met two years ago in the quarterfinals round of the 2015 state championships in which Punahou won 5-1.

Kalani ends its season at 8-4-2 overall after finishing fourth in the OIA Playoffs.

In the late afternoon game at Mililani High School, it was the Trojans taking on the Sabers of Campbell High School.

The two teams previously met in late December with Mililani coming out on top 1-0. Today's game was no different as the Trojans topped the Sabers 5-1 to advance in the Division I Queen's Medical Center Boys Soccer State Championship.

Mililani jumped out to a 3-0 start with first-half goals from Chad Uyejo (2nd min.), Hudson Zeisman (23rd min.) and Kekoa Kuloloia (34th min.). Campbell got things going with David Tupper's penalty kick goal right before the first half expired. The second half was all Trojans as Zeisman again got one to the back of the net in the 60th minute and Darnel Williams headed Mililani's fifth goal in five minutes later.

The OIA runner-up Trojans will play third-seed Baldwin on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.

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Also in Monday's first round action, Pearl City defeated King Kekaulike 2-1 in double overtime while Kaiser blanked Hilo 6-0. The Chargers will play top-seed Kapolei, and the Cougars will play second-seed Iolani.