Noah Mokulehua's header in the 48th minute lifted the Cougars over the third-seeded Bears in the Division I semifinals. CJ Caraang | SL

View image 1 of 1

---

Noah Mokulehua's header in the 48th minute lifted the Cougars over the third-seeded Bears in the Division I semifinals. CJ Caraang | SL

View image 1 of 1

---

WAIPAHU — The Kaiser Cougars just keep finding ways to win big games.

Kaiser pulled a 1-0 upset win over third-seeded Baldwin Friday night at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium to advance to the championship game of the Queen's Medical Center/HHSAA Division I Boys Soccer state tournament.

The Cougars, who defeated second-seeded Iolani, 2-1, one night ago, moves on to face Punahou on Saturday at 7 p.m. for the Division I state title. 

"They (Baldwin) are a great team," said Kaiser first-year coach Layne Abalos. "They played well." 

The first half was a back-and-forth affair with both teams creating chances. In the seventh minute, Kaiser goalkeeper Brandon Yasue gave away a free kick to the Bears when he picked the ball up outside of his 18-yard box. Baldwin's Angelo Deloso-Flocco took the free kick, but hit it just wide of the post. 

Yasue atoned for his mistake by making a handful of save to keep the Cougars in the game early on. 

On the other side of the field, Baldwin keeper Jorge Dante Perez-Martin made a leaping save to deny Kaiser's Hunter Yamanaka from scoring in the 12th minute. Perez-Martin made a total of seven saves during the match. 

The teams headed into the half tied 0-0 with no one being able to beat the other team's goalkeeper.

"At halftime, we told them that we basically wanted them to connect more passes," said Abalos.

When the second half started, the Cougars did just that and controlled more of the possession. Their persistence paid off when they got the breakthrough goal eight minutes into the second half.

After winning a corner kick, junior midfielder Motoki Sato hit a looping ball to the back post to set up junior Noah Mokulehua's goal. Mokulehua rose above everyone and headed the ball in to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead in the 48th minute.

"He's been doing that all season," said Abalos on Mokulehua's goal scoring abilities. "I don't know how he finds it. He has stepped up big time. We needed somebody to back up Makana (Srivongsana) as far as goals. Great kid."

Mokulehua now has 15 goals on the season, two of which have been scored during HHSAA tournament play.

When asked, Mokulehua couldn't recall scoring his game winning goal.

"Honestly, I forgot about it," said Mokulehua. "I cannot think about it right now, but I think I just saw the ball coming and hit it in with my eyes wide-open."

This was Baldwin's first loss of the season.

"It was a pretty even game," said Baldwin coach Kane Palazzotto. "It just came down to a set piece and they (Kaiser) did a good job with it. My defense fought hard tonight. I thought we created chances and I thought they created chances as well. It's tough to say now, but we have to be more clinical when we're going forward."

The championship game will be a rematch of the 2011 title game. In that match, Kaiser lost heavily to Punahou, 5-0.

"Tomorrow is going to be tough," said Abalos. "We have to play our perfect game again and hopefully we'll be fine."

Mokulehua believes that his team will find a way to win in tomorrow's game against the Buffanblu.

"I'm pretty stoked," said Mokulehua. "I've never been to a state finals, but I think we have a good chance at winning this thing."