Pearl City, Mililani boys in OIA soccer title game

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

The best of the West will be the best of the O'ahu Interscholastic Association in boys soccer.

Castle's Brennan Alexander, left, and Mililani's Kevin Higaki battle for position in the first half. Mililani won the soccer match, 2-0. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Saturday's title game is set for 7:30 p.m. at Pearl City.

"They're the two best teams in the league," Roosevelt coach Ed Ota said. "It should be a great game."

Pearl City lost the regular season meeting, 1-0, but the Chargers' offense appears to have stepped it up a notch since that Jan. 3 game.

Kenshiro Uki gave Pearl City a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute last night off a throw-in by Ricky Shinn, and Keone Peiper made it 2-0 in the 12th minute off another throw-in by Shinn.

"Every time we get a set play, we think we're gonna score," said Shinn, who said the Chargers had scored on throw-ins at least five times earlier this season. "You gotta have that mentality, definitely. I just try to set people up, and they get the goals."

Pearl City coach Scott Keopuhiwa said Shinn's throw-in ability makes him a weapon even from out of bounds.

"Ricky doesn't have to be on the field to help us score," Keopuhiwa said. "We have other players who can throw it as far as him, but he's the most accurate and consistent."

The game's pivotal moment, however, came in the 40th minute when the Rough Riders (8-4-1) had a close open shot go off the crossbar. The Chargers immediately answered with a 30-yard shot by Wesley Armacost on an assist from Christopher Ka'auku'u.

That 30-second swing turned a potential 2-1 halftime score into a 3-0 lead for Pearl City.

"We started out too slow in the first half," Ota said. "(The Chargers) are quick and they're fast, and our team just wasn't ready for that. We had some chances later, but couldn't put it in."

Peiper closed out the scoring in the 80th minute on an assist from Shinn. Defensively, Pearl City shut down Roosevelt's Holden Lau, who had scored four goals in the previous two games.

"He's a handful, and we knew he was dangerous," Keopuhiwa said. "I told our guys we gotta mark him up and know where he is at all times. Our plan was to deny him, but if he did get the ball, we wanted him to make him get rid of it quickly and not let him dribble, because that's when he can hurt you."

• MILILANI 2, CASTLE 0: Nathan Amous scored from 10 yards on an assist from Kevin Higaki in the 11th minute and Justin Kim scored from 22 yards on Amous' assist in the 13th minute to help the Trojans defeat the Knights (8-2-2).

Mililani, which has won five of the past eight OIA championships, will be playing in the title game for the eighth time in the past nine years.

"Castle did a good job in the second half," Trojans coach Jeff Yamamoto said. "They changed their system and played with a lot of enthusiasm. But I'm happy with our performance. A lot of players had to come off the bench, and they played well."

OIA GIRLS

Consolation bracket

at Kailua

• Leilehua 1, Kaiser 0: Kelly Wert scored the game's only goal to lift the Mules (8-4-1) past the Cougars (6-3-3) and into tomorrow's fifth-place game against Kalaheo, set for 7 p.m. at Kailua, to determine the OIA's fifth and final state tournament berth.

• Kalaheo 4, Castle 1: Tina Garcia scored three goals and Brandi Benson also scored to help the Mustangs (8-2-3) eliminate the Knights (7-3-3), who got a goal from Lindsey Watanabe.