KAPOLEI - Alyssa Almogela's hat trick helped propel the Lady Marauders to their first ever OIA White Division girls soccer title in dominating fashion over Kalaheo, 4-1.

"It's an unbelievable feeling," Waipahu Head coach Elaina Paredes. "It boosts our confidence; we've never archived something like this before. It really means a lot."

Waipahu's Jodi Shibata and Alyssa Almogela scored a combined four goals to give the Lady Marauders the victory. The two juniors scored all their goals in the first half.

"They are phenomenal," Paredes said. "They are only juniors and from freshmen year, they were always varsity caliber players."

The Lady Marauders struck early with a goal in the 3rd minute of the game. With an excellent display of moves, Waipahu's Jahna Tacson was able to maneuver her way down the Kalaheo side line and set up a cross that connected with Almogela, who was there to finish the goal.

"It was really quick," Almogela said. "Without Jahna's passes, I wouldn't have scored those goals. Jahna is an awesome player"

The second goal came in the 9th minute of the game when Waipahu's Jodi Shibata took advantage of a bouncing ball about 30 yards away from the goal. A one touch shot sent the ball over the Kalaheo keepers head and gave Waipahu a 2-0 lead ten minutes into the game.

"The defense gets hungry every now and then," Paredes said. "So when opportunities do come around, they are in perfect position to one touch it in."

The third goal came in the 31st minute of the first half. A spectacular corner kick taken by Almogela, which the ball went untouched into the back of the net to give Waipahu a 3-0 edge.

"We didn't even realize it went in because there was a hole in the net," said Paredes. "When the referee confirmed it, we were like 'Ok great'."

Almogela completed the hat trick in the 38th minute, as a brilliant through ball sent by the Lady Marauders helped set Almogela up with a one on one with the keeper.

As the Kalaheo keeper came to challenge Almogela, a Kalaheo defender knocked Almogela from the back. However Almogela was able to somehow poke the ball past the Kalaheo keeper as she was falling down. The goal made inside the 18 yard box gave Waipahu a 4-0 lead going into halftime.

"She's go hungry, she makes things happen, that's the mentality you need when you're a striker," said Paredes. "She's a definite threat to other teams."

Kalaheo was able to get on the board in the second half.

Taking advantage of a mishandled ball by the Waipahu keeper, Mustangs Kiana Bowman was able to pop the ball into the back of the net.

"We started our JV keeper tonight because we had injuries with our first string keeper." Kalaheo Head coach Alan Heu said. ""You second guess what you do and it's unfortunate it did not go our way."

After winning the OIA championship, the Lady Marauders now look to states. Kalaheo also moves on to states, along with Leilehua and Radford to represent the OIA White.

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