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Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveFebruary 10, 2022, 11:48pm
Thu, Feb 10, 2022 @ Kapolei
KAPOLEI — Mari Ige found the back of the net twice before halftime to help No. 3 Mililani to a 4-0 win over Pearl City in the semifinals of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I girls soccer tournament Thursday at Kapolei's Alvin Nagasako Sports Complex.
The Trojans improved to 12-0 on the season with their 10th shut out and will try for their second straight OIA title — albeit two years apart — when they face No. 8 Campbell in Saturday's championship final.
"It's been a while," said Ige, who was a freshman when Mililani captured its most recent of 18 league titles.
Ige, a junior midfielder and co-captain, is one of six players who remain on the team from the 2020 season.
"Since we had kind of like a break — like a year break — it was kind of hard for all the girls to come back together to the team and play as one. We've all played for different clubs so as we all come together to play for Mililani, as Mililani, I think we do that pretty well," she said.
The numbers certainly support Ige's notion. Not only have the Trojans gone undefeated and untied through their first dozen games, they have allowed only one goal all year. All the while having scored 83 goals of their own.
"All the players are good together — there's no drama — the team chemistry is great and I think moving forward the team is a good team; everyone gets minutes and there really is no drop off," Ige added.
Unlike Tuesday's 6-0 quarterfinal win over Aiea — when they were shut out in the first half — the Trojans cashed in on their chances against the Chargers early in Thursday's contest.
Just nine minutes in, Tavena Oliveira sent a cross from the left side that was knocked around in the box for a bit before Ige put it away with her shot into the left side of the goal to open the scoring.
Ige retraced the sequence of events that led to her seventh goal this season.
"Tavena took the ball in down the line, she touched it in, came across right outside the box, touched it to me, I had the ball come across to my right foot, I took a deep breath, relaxed, I took a touch, looked up, saw the left side of the goal open and I smashed it in the goal," she explained.
Four minutes after that, Kailee Wilson doubled up the Mililani lead with her goal off a left-footed shot from about 25 yards out that got through the hands of the Pearl City goalkeeper.
The Trojans scored off of a corner kick in the 26th minute to make it a 3-0 lead. Jade Alverio played the corner short to teammate Kiana Muratsuka, who served the ball into the box, where it found the head of a crashing Ige.
"Kiana had a nice turn, went back down the line, I saw her head look up and I was waving my hand in the air calling for a pass; we made direct eye contact, too," detailed Ige, who also scored a goal Tuesday against Aiea. "Kiana played the ball on a very nice chip, then, again, I just had to relax, kind of calm my nerves. (I) looked at the goal, looked at the ball again and just tried to place it in the net."
Mililani coach Darren Smith credited his players for capitalizing on their chances in the final third.
"Yeah, during the run of play we were absolutely where we needed to be this time and it showed. I think our ability to finish on opportunities was there, so very efficient with the first three (goals); I think we had four shots and we finished three," Smith said.
The Trojans added to their lead with Tauiai Fuamatu-Maafala's breakaway goal in the 69th minute.
Pearl City's best scoring chance came in the 57th minute, when Maia Santa Monica put a shot on goal with a spinning back heel, but it was saved by Mililani goalie, Taylor VanAntwerp.
The Chargers tallied two shots on goal for the match; VanAntwerp saved both of them.
Mikaela Maria Javar made six saves in goal for Pearl City.
Mililani managed 10 shots on goal.
It was the second time that the teams faced off this season. The Trojans came away with a 2-0 win over the Chargers when they played in the regular season, back on Jan. 11.
"Going into this game, on the bus I had my players line up and just talk about what we're gonna do in the game, just kind of to get a visual and coming out, during this game, I think we did really well," Ige said. "Better than we did our first season game against Pearl City.
It was the fourth game this year that the Chargers — who feature one of the state's top goal scorers in freshman forward Julia Oka — were held without a goal. Oka netted a pair of goals Tuesday against Kaiser.
"Julia Oka's definitely a threat in my eyes," Ige said. "(From) playing club against her, too, (she's) definitely a great player. … As for defending her, we didn't really have a game plan against her. All we wanted to do was come out there, stop the ball and no goals. Play a very clean game — we didn't want anyone getting hurt — other than that, I think our main focus was just to have them not score and shoot (from) outside the box, because Pearl City tends to be really good at taking shots (from) outside the box, so I tried my best to deny that and I think my whole team overall did pretty well doing that."
Pearl City will play No. 5 Moanalua (9-1-1) for third place at 7:15 p.m. Friday at Waipahu. That game will be preceded by the fifth-place game — which features seventh-ranked Kaiser (8-2-1) and Waipahu (8-4-1) at 5:30 p.m.
Mililani and No. 8 Campbell (10-1-1) will play Saturday at Kapolei for the OIA championship after the Division II title game between Leilehua (5-5-1) and Kalaheo (5-4-1) at 5 p.m.
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