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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, February 9, 2003

Mililani claims OIA girls soccer title

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

PEARL CITY — Last night's O'ahu Interscholastic Association girls soccer championship ultimately became a game of inches.

Mililani's Sarah Yoro, left, battles Pearl City's Ashley Hashimoto for position. Yoro scored two goals in the first half.

Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Jen Loo scored on a header in the 92nd minute off Liane Tom's assist to give Mililani a 3-2 victory over host Pearl City, but only after a linesman ruled that Chargers sweeper Christie Ayers was over the goal line when she cleared the ball out of bounds.

Unofficial videotape viewed after the game appeared to show Ayers' body was in-bounds when she made the kick, although it was tougher to determine whether the ball had crossed the line. If it did, it probably was by a foot or less.

Regardless, it was ruled a goal in the second overtime period and allowed the Trojans (12-0-1) to win their fourth straight OIA title and fifth in the past six years. Pearl City fell to 11-1-1.

Loo's header near the goal box came after Tom lofted a shot from about 25 yards off a throw-in.

"Ane gave me a perfect ball, and I was telling myself I gotta put it in," Loo said. "It was the first (header) I scored all year, and it came at the perfect time."

Mililani took a 2-0 lead on goals by sophomore Sarah Yoro, the first in the 17th minute and the second in the 21st.

The teams had played to a 0-0 tie in their regular-season meeting on Jan. 3.

"I was surprised to go up 2-0," Trojans coach James Uson said. "I thought it would be more like a 0-0 game. But both teams' offenses have come a long way this season. I was hoping we could continue to score, but you gotta give Pearl City credit. That team can score at any time, and we knew it was going to be a battle physically."

Kim Unten scored off Ayers' assist in the 31st minute to close it to 2-1, and Lauren Miyashiro tied it in the 51st minute off Unten's assist.

That's how it stood through the end of regulation and the first 10-minute overtime period, and through the first minute of the second OT.

"I'm very proud of our kids," Chargers co-coach Tracee Kono said. "A lot of people would have thought we were done when it was 2-0."

The Trojans were not some of those people.

"Whenever we play Pearl City, it's a rivalry," Loo said. "We're always out to get each other."