Seamas Mercado (6) celebrates with his teammates after putting away the clinching penalty kick for Kaiser in its quarterfinal win over No. 1 Mililani at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex's Field No. 19 Thursday afternoon. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Thu, Mar 3, 2022 @ Waipio

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Kaiser

4

Mililani

3

Final/PK	1st	2nd	OT	2OT	PK	Tot
Kaiser (14-2-1)	0	3	0	0	4	4
Mililani (15-1-0)	2	1	0	0	2	3

W. Simpson (1', 18')   S. Mercado (59')   L. Davies (57')   N. Fujikane (78')   N. Kaneshiro (45')

WAIPAHU — March Madness on the Waipio Peninsula. 

Unseeded Kaiser netted three second-half goals and then edged No. 1 Mililani 4-2 in penalty kicks in a wild back-and-forth quarterfinal match of the NIU Health Urgent Care/HHSAA Division I Boys Soccer State Championships Thursday afternoon. 

The Cougars, who fell out of the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Power Rankings after a fifth-place finish in the Oahu Interscholastic Association tournament two weeks ago, recorded their fourth consecutive win to improve to 13-1-1 and punch their ticket to Friday's semifinals. 

"Icing on the cake, for sure," Kaiser coach Layne Abalos said. "The boys played hard. This one's really emotional. We were hurt, a lot of injuries, but the boys fought back."

The Cougars did the same in their previous match, when they rallied from a halftime deficit with three second-half goals in a win over Baldwin on the island of Maui in the opening round of the 12-team tournament Monday. 

"Just like Baldwin," Abalos recalled. "We fought back, we fought back and I'm just so proud of the boys."

Kaiser fell behind early after a pair of goals by Will Simpson (1', 18') put Mililani ahead, 2-0.

The score held until the 45th minute, when Noah Kaneshiro got the Cougars on the board with his goal. Leo Davies equalized the match with his 57th-minute goal before Seamas Mercado gave Kaiser the lead with his goal two minutes later. 

However, the Trojans pulled even just before the end of regulation with Noah Fujikane's goal in the 78th minute to force the match to extra time. 

Neither team was able to score the golden goal in either 10-minute overtime period and the match went to penalty kicks. 

Both teams put in their first PK, then Kaiser inched ahead with another make by Sean Caires. Mililani's second attempt was blocked by goalkeeper Luca Tommasino. 

Kaiser's third attempt was blocked and Isaiah Viloria put his PK away for Mililani to tie it at 2-2 after three rounds. After Richard Yang went to the lower right corner with his PK to again put the Cougars ahead, Tommasino came up with a diving save to deny the Trojans. That set-up the clinching PK for Mercado, who converted it successfully into the right side of the goal. 

Mililani used three different goalkeepers during the PK shootout. 

Abalos said that his team's stumble in the form of a 1-0 loss to Aiea in the quarterfinals of the OIA tournament proved to be quite humbling for his players. 

"Oh, for sure. For sure," he affirmed. "We learned a lot. We got toppled over, we took it for granted, for sure, but we know what we're capable of. We're a grinding team, we're not a flashy team, we're a grinding team … and we're there. We're there."

Kaiser will be trying for its first appearance in a state final since 2017 when it meets third-seeded and ninth-ranked Hilo in a 5 p.m. semifinal Friday at Radford's John E. Velasco Stadium. 

The Trojans (13-1), who started the week ranked atop the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Power Rankings for a third consecutive week, suffered their first loss of the season. They will play Aiea in a fifth-place semifinal at 3 p.m. Friday at Waipio's Field No. 16. 

Vikings ride two first-half goals to deny Na Alii

Michael De Coito and Kaumualii Harman each scored a goal before halftime to help No. 9 Hilo to a 2-1 win over Aiea in the other quarterfinal at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex Thursday afternoon. 

The Vikings, who are seeded third in the tournament and had a first-round bye as the champion of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, improved to 9-1 with the win and secured a spot in Friday's semifinal round of the NIU Health Urgent Care/HHSAA Division I State Championships. 

Na Alii, the fourth-place team out of the Oahu Interscholastic Association, was coming off of a 1-0 win over No. 3 Iolani in Monday's opening round of the tournament. The loss Thursday was their third in four games and dropped their record to 10-6 on the year. 

De Coito opened the scoring with his goal in the ninth minute and Harman doubled up the Hilo lead with his goal in the 29th minute. 

The Vikings led 2-0 at halftime, but Aiea's Kelly Takara got his team on the board in the 54th minute. 

Hilo will play Kaiser at 7 p.m. Friday at John E. Velasco Stadium at Radford High School for a spot in the state championship match Saturday. 

Aiea will face Mililani in a fifth-pace semifinal at Waipio's Field No. 16 at 3 p.m. Friday. 

The Hilo-Aiea game was the lone Division I quarterfinal that did not go to penalty kicks Thursday.