KAPOLEI- With some devastating moves by Florian Struendel, the Red Raiders of Kahuku triumphed over the Castle Knights, 1-0, to claim the O'ahu Interscholastic Association White Division boys soccer championship.

"It feels great," said Struendel. "It's fantastic to be here and to win the OIA championship."

"It's a sweet victory," Kahuku coach Richard Oei said. "Now we got to move on and make our mark in states."

The only goal of the night was scored came in the 26th minute of the first half. Kahuku's Florian Struendel navigated his way past a couple Castle defenders and lasered a shot inside the 18 yard box. The goal by the junior helped lift the Red Raiders to win the OIA title.

Castle had several opportunities to the score throughout the game. But the defending back line for Kahuku proved to be too athletic and too physical for the speedy Knights. The finesse passing game of Castle was outmatched by aggressive vertical game Kahuku presented.

"It was a tough loss," Castle coach Marc LaChance said. "We had some good chances, but that's just how soccer goes."

Defense played a significant role in the victory for Kahuku. The Knights were able to pass their way to the Red Raiders side of the field, but with little success in scoring. Whenever the Castle players penetrated the 18 yard box, the Kahuku defenders were there, immediately swarming to the ball. The athleticism by the Red Raiders nullified all of Castle attempts inside the 18.

"They knew it was a do or die situation," Oei said. "They were kind of in a panic mode, but they did everything they could to keep the ball from going in."

Kahuku's win marked the Red Raiders' second OIA White boys soccer title, the last coming in 2008. Both teams move on to the state tournament next week with Kahuku as the seeded team from the OIA.

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