The Pearl City boys and girls soccer teams successfully defended their home field last night to win O‘ahu Interscholastic Association championships.
Ricky Shinn headed in a throw-in by his older brother Bobby Shinn at 39:15 as the Pearl City boys defeated Mililani, 1-0.
In the girls’ match, Carmen Calpo scored at 1:43 and Melanie Laporga added another at 63:55 as Pearl City defeated ‘Aiea, 2-0.
Bobby and Randy Shinn are senior twins for Pearl City. Ricky is a sophomore.
"My brother just threw it to me," Ricky Shinn said. "I’ve been heading in those throw-ins all year and I was lucky enough he found me and I headed it in."
Bobby Shinn was injured after landing awkwardly on a bicycle kick in the 73rd minute. He was down for 30 minutes and taken off the field by an ambulance.
"He’s got a concussion," Pearl City coach Scott Keopuhiwa. "I think he’s going to be OK."
Timmy Liu nearly put the Trojans ahead 1-0 on a 35-yard free kick, but his shot hit the crossbar in the 38th minute.
In the second half, Pearl City defenders Colin Yuh (66th minute) and Kevin Palafox (78th) headed away shots while standing just in front of the goal line.
"We had a couple of defenders head it off the goal line," Keopuhiwa said. "That’s what we’ve asked of them all season, to play team defense and they came through for us."
Mililani outshot Pearl City, 6-4.
"Pearl City played a very tough game," Mililani coach Jeff Yamamoto said. "The game was very even. They had the opportunity and made the most of it."
In the girls title game, Calpo scored on a header off a corner kick by Raeshell Daite.
"We practice a lot of corner kicks," Pearl City coach Archie Chung said. "The ball came and she was in the right place at the right time."
About 30 seconds earlier, Calpo’s header off a free kick by Lynette Sialana was stopped by ‘Aiea goalie Diana Shiroma.
In the 34th minute, Calpo’s header was stopped by Shiroma, who blocked the shot and had to scramble to her right to cover the ball.
Pearl City’s Chante Figueroa got behind the defense in the 58th minute, but Shiroma came off her line to smother the shot.
Laporga’s goal was on a left-footed 20-yard chip over the head of Shiroma.
"I mis-hit it," Laporga said. "I wanted to kick it down, but it went up. I didn’t think it would be a goal, but it was."
The Chargers outshot Na Ali‘i, 10-8.
"Pearl City played real well," ‘Aiea coach Gordon Matsuoka said. "They had a strong offense. They loaded the middle, put the ball in the middle and scored."
The Pearl City teams will receive first-round byes in the state tournaments. The girls state tournament is Thursday-Saturday at Waipi‘o Peninsula Soccer Park and Aloha Stadium. The boys state tournament is Feb. 14-17 at Aloha Stadium.
