Punahou's girls win ILH soccer

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

Punahou's Allison Tsuchida got a head on the ball with Pac-Five's Karlyn Oyama defending during yesterday's ILH game at Kapi'olani Park. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

The Punahou School girls soccer team won the Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship yesterday, fittingly by the slimmest of margins.

The Buffanblu actually tied Pac-Five, 1-1, at Kap'iolani Park. But the stalemate was worth one championship point — enough to push Punahou (7-1-2) past Iolani and Kamehameha, both 7-2-1, to the top of the final regular-season standings.

The title also earns the Buffanblu the league's only state tournament berth.

"It was a crazy season," said Punahou forward Adria Campbell. "I'm thankful we stayed out on top, because after we won the first round (at 5-0), everybody came out harder against us. We didn't dominate."

That was true even in yesterday's game against the underdog Wolfpack (3-5-2). The Buffanblu's only goal came in the 12th minute, on Romy Trigg-Smith's header off an assist by Campbell. And after Pac-Five's Kelly Figueira scored on a penalty kick in the 70th minute, most of the crowd of about 200 stood and anxiously watched the remainder of the game.

"This shows the parity of the ILH," Punahou coach Jorge Barbosa said. "I give Pac-Five a lot of credit, because they came out hard and earned everything they got today. (Coach) Eddie Wong has done a wonderful job over there."

Although the Buffanblu controlled the early stages of the game, they managed only five shots on goal in the first half. Their offense slowed considerably at about the 20-minute mark when Campbell, who led the ILH with seven goals, left the game with a strained quadriceps.

The second half was pretty even, although Punahou appeared to have things under control until goalkeeper Allison Lipsher was issued a yellow card for unsportsmanlike conduct. That's when Campbell re-entered the game for one play — as a substitute keeper for Figueira's penalty kick that found the back left corner of the net.

"That put us back in the game and got us pumped up," Wong said. "We just tried to get one more goal."

The Wolfpack had two scoring opportunities in the final minutes, and the Buffanblu also had a few late looks at the net, but Lipsher and Pac-Five goalkeeper Brittney Aiwohi were there for the saves.

In the end, the Wolfpack had their upset tie and the Buffanblu had their championship. Both teams were happy.

"I told the girls before the game that if nothing else, we could put (the title chase) into a tailspin and be a spoiler," Wong said. "We came up a little short, but they did well, and I'm very proud of the way they played. It's extra hard on us because we have girls from different schools and we all have to come to Kap'iolani every day to practice.

"A few years ago, we would have been just another statistic for a team like Punahou, but now they know they're going to have a (tough) game with us."

Campbell said that's what makes this championship sweeter for the Buffanblu.

"The ILH has great teams, the competition is so tough," Campbell said. "Iolani, Kamehameha and even Pac-Five — they're all great teams. It takes a lot out of us, but we made it through."

BOYS STATE TOURNAMENT

• St. Joseph 3, Moanalua 2: St. Joseph, runner-up in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, defeated Moanalua, third in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association, on penalty kicks in the first round of the AT&T Wireless Boys State Soccer Championships at War Memorial Stadium in Wailuku, Maui.

Raphael Jube gave St. Joseph a 1-0 lead 1:04 into the game, and Adam Woolverton made it 2-0 for the Cardinals at 4:31.

The Menehune rallied to tie it 2-2 at the end of the first half. Breland Pedro scored a 25:46 and Geoffrey Say at 33:19.

Moanalua's Neal Arakawa had a shot on goal late in the second half, but the ball hit the crossbar and bounced harmlessly away.

Goalies Maury Gutteling of St. Joseph and James Strombach of Moanalua both made spectacular saves in both overtime periods, as the game went the distance and into a shootout.

In the shootout, St. Joseph missed the first shot, but made the next three. Cardinal goalie Maury Gutteling made two saves to shut down the Menehune and earn the victory.

• Kaiser 2, Kealakehe 1: Kealakehe, third in the BIIF, struck first on a goal by Mark Kurashige, but OIA runner-up Kaiser scored less than two minutes later on a goal by Chad Jamieson.

Landon Beers, the OIA's top scorer, scored at 50:38 to put Kaiser ahead for good.

• Campbell 2, Kapa'a 0: Campbell, fifth in the OIA, and Kapa'a, the Kaua'i Interscholastic Federation champion, played to a scoreless first half, but the Sabers' Michael Ryman struck at 56:13 after he beat a defender and went one-on-one with the goalie.

Donovan Gaboya then scored an insurance goal on a direct free kick at 67:04.

• Castle 4, Seabury Hall 1: Seabury Hall, runner-up in the Maui Interscholastic League, took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Brian Bollinger 13:25 into the game, but Castle, fourth in the OIA, rallied with four unaswered goals to advance to tonight's quarterfinals.

Castle tied it off a corner kick on a header by Corey Zablan at 32:39, then took the lead for good two minutes later on a goal by Nolan Miranda.

Castle scored again midway through the second half on a goal by Michael Maeda, and Blaine Fujimoto capped the scoring on a penalty kick at 72:08.