ILH Girls Soccer
Punahou takes down previously unbeaten Kamehameha


ScoringLive staff
January 3, 2025, 10:15pm

  

Fri, Jan 3, 2025 @ Punahou

Kamehameha

0

Punahou

1

Final 1st 2nd OT 2OT PK Tot
Kamehameha (10-2-0) 0 0 - - - 0
Punahou (11-2-0) 1 0 - - - 1
Amelie Zeitz


Punahou got a little bit of revenge over rival Kamehameha, a 1-0 result at Alexander Field that evened the season series between the second ranked Buffanblu and the top ranked Warriors, setting up a real possibility of a playoff to decide the top team in the ILH.

Amelie Zeitz got the Buffanblu on the board in the 24th minute, as Kylie Tang's cross set Zeitz up nicely nearly the left post, where she deftly put the ball into the back of net.

"I think that it just comes with team chemistry and trusting each other," said Zeitz of the play. "We were able to find it out wide to Kylie, she had a beautiful cross, and then it was just, you know, put your body on the line and do what you can."

Despite the lead, Punahou did not relax at all in their pressing style and accordingly, Kamehameha continued seemingly unphased, though the score by Zeitz did mark the first goal given up by the Warriors this season.

That composure nearly equated to an equalizer in the 36th minute as the Warriors found some Kulia Montgomery in space on the right wing, and her cross to Madison Sharrer resulted in a well struck ball that fortunately for the Buffanblu was read perfectly by goalkeeper Xeyana Salanoa.

"I was just trying to follow my defense and communicate with them," Salanoa remarked. "Tracking the ball from the crossover and then just being set on my toes, which is really big, so I could react easy. When I made that save, it felt really good."

Kamehameha's other significant chance on goal came in the 76th minute, when Montgomery found the ball in the attacking third on a through ball and managed to eke out just enough space away from pair of Buffanblu defenders to get a shot off. That shot was not well struck, however, and bounded rather harmlessly into the arms of Salanoa to extinguish the threat.

Not content with just clearing the ball and trying to milk the clock, Punahou continued to find chances offensively, with two late shots on goal by Tang and Maya Yoshimura that were saved by Kamehameha keeper Kailla Miller, but showed the Buffanblu's resolve to not simply hold on to the lead.

"(We) just work hard as a team and never let our foot off the gas, and then I think we showed that today," said Zeitz. "Kamehameha still played an amazing game, though. They're always a great opponent, so it's always awesome to play them."

Defensively, both teams really limited chances and forced nearly perfect execution in the attacking half, but in the latter stages of the game, the fortitude of the Buffanblu back line was evident, even with the added pressure the Warriors applied trying to find the tying goal in the final minutes.

"The defense did an amazing job," Zeitz said. "A lot of them stayed in almost the whole game, so that obviously takes, you know, grit and tenacity, but having a strong keeper back there really helped with feeling like very composed."

Salanoa stopped six shots in the contest in all, but had no less than four instances of foot races to a ball trickling dangerously in the box, and in each instance the senior keeper came up with possession of the ball or a clear.

"I think we kind of took the days off (between the two games against Kamehameha) to work on our mistakes that we need to fix, and one of them was the long balls over the top," said Salanoa. "I think one difference was we did a great job tracking that and I think I did a good job coming off my line as well."

While a winner-take-all playoff does seem to be looming in the near future, both teams have some work to be done before that happens. Punahou finishes up with games against Le Jardin, at Iolani and a home finale against Punahou II, while Kamehameha finishes up its regular season with a game on the road against Iolani.




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