WAIPIO - Led by an awakened Twyla Hamasaki, the Raiders of Iolani outlasted Moanalua Friday night, 1-0, moving on to its second consecutive HHSAA state championship title game appearance.

"It feels good, Moanalua was a great team," Iolani coach Kristin Masunaga said. "We just take it a game at a time."

Both teams held each other scoreless until the final minutes of the first half, until the 39th minute of the game, when Hamasaki received the ball inside the 18 yard box and finished the goal after a long ball sent by Iolani senior Krystal Pascua from near half field, giving the Raiders a 1-0 lead going into halftime.

"Twyla has been kind of quiet all season," said Masunaga. "But from her goal yesterday and she just came through tonight."

Moanalua had several missed opportunities tonight. But a couple of late surges by Na Menehune sparked the team up, but it wasn't enough to come away with the win.

"We just started to play a little too late," Moanalua coach Nikki Dela Pena said. "An early mistake cost us and we knew at this point any mistakes would end up determining the game."

The connection from McCaskill to Hamasaki was the only goal scored during the game. McCaskill, had just signed her letter of intent on Wednesday to play for the University of Hawaii.

"Tonight, was probably one of Amanda's best performances," said Masunaga. "She just did her thing."

"We congratulated her on signing, but she knows what we are focused on," Masunaga continued.

Iolani moves on to play tomorrow for the HHSAA girls soccer state championships. This will be Iolani second consecutive appearance in the championship, after losing last year to Punahou.

"Last year, it was a devastating loss with unfortunate events that happened," Masunaga said. "So hopefully this year we can be healthy and finish the game."

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