The Warriors celebrate after Caili Cain scored the game-winning goal for Kamehameha. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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The Warriors celebrate after Caili Cain scored the game-winning goal for Kamehameha. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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ALA WAI — Caili Cain came off the bench to score the lone goal in Kamehameha's 1-0 road win over defending Division I state champion Iolani to open the Interscholastic League of Honolulu season Wednesday.

An afternoon crowd of about 200 fans at windy Kozuki Stadium saw the Warriors (1-0) turn the tide after halftime after the Raiders (0-1) largely controlled the first-half possession.

Cain, a junior forward, scored in the 69th minute on a restart after there was a pause in the action due to a cramp to Kamehameha's Kalia Kalua. Caly Ahsoon served the ball toward the right side of the 18-yard box to Cain, who headed it to her teammate, D'awncey Jones. Jones passed the ball back to Cain, who put away a right-footed shot over Iolani goalkeeper Musuai Isaia.

"I think I had just come in, so I was ready to just play and just play as hard as I can for my team because time is running out and there was a free kick, it went over, I hit it with my head to Kitty, she passed it, like a little flick back and then I just one-touched it in," Cain said.

Warriors coach Melissa Moore described the play as she saw it from the sideline.

"I saw like a deflection and a volley, that's what I saw, but it was perfectly placed and a very nice finish, very composed," Moore said.

ILH D1 girls soccer
FINAL: Kamehameha 1, Iolani 0.
Caili Cain's goal in the 69th minute was the difference in the league opener for both teams. Warriors (1-0) played w/o standouts F Leah Feato & D Tausani Tavale. Raiders (0-1) played w/o MF Sierra Wheeler & F Sasha Asselbaye.

— Kalani Takase (@SLKalani) December 6, 2018

The teams played to a scoreless first half, but Iolani registered nine shots by the intermission — seven of them on goal. In contrast, Kamehameha had just two shots on goal, five in all, in the first 40 minutes.

"I think we realized that we were better than how we played in the first half, so we had to come out a lot stronger and a lot bigger, a lot faster than the other team because we had to want it more to win," Cain said of her team's halftime adjustments.

Moore agreed with Cain that it was more a matter of will than any tactical adjustments made at halftime that got things going.

"Just wanting that grit and effort out of them, you know, ‘win the 50-50 balls first and foremost and move, move off the ball, don't stand and wait for your teammate to do something, you gotta move,' so a few adjustments there, they did a little bit better, but really it wasn't a quality game for us, to be honest with you, Moore said.

About six minutes after Cain's goal, Warriors goalkeeper Caela Kaio preserved her team's lead with a pivotal save. A foul by Kamehameha allowed Kelsey Wong to attempt an indirect free kick from about 40 yards out. Wong blasted a line drive that was headed for the top left corner of the goal — in the area of a charging teammate — but Kaio was able to make the save to end the scoring threat.