Posted on: Friday, January 28, 2005

'Aiea defeats Kailua to reach OIA semis

By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer

With revenge on the minds of its players, the 'Aiea girls soccer team defeated Kailua, 1-0, in an O'ahu Interscholastic Association quarterfinal match last night at Pearl City.

'Aiea (10-1-1), the West No. 3 seed, advances to the semifinals against Pearl City at Kaiser at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday. Mililani plays Moanalua in the other semifinal following that match.

'Aiea junior forward Ambree Ako scored in the 70th minute, redeeming Na Ali'i's 1-0 upset loss to Kailua in last year's OIA semifinals, when 'Aiea was the West's top seed.

"It was on my mind, but I didn't mention anything to them," 'Aiea coach Gordon Matsuoka said of last year's loss.

He didn't need to: his players didn't need any reminding.

"I kept thinking about revenge against them," Ako said. "I thought about it before the game, but during the game, I just wanted to beat them."

Ako scored on an assist from senior forward Tobi Kanehira, who had the ball to the right side of the center circle and sent a floating ball over two Kailua defenders, placing it perfectly for Ako who was running down the field.

"Tobi said she just kicked it towards the sound of my voice," Ako said. "It was just a really good pass and I had to finish it or she would be on my case."

Ako placed the ball to the right of goalkeeper Pumai Kanoa-Doctorello, who was covering the near post.

"I heard (Ako), and we connect like that," said Kanehira, who scored 'Aiea's game-winning goal in its first-round match against Castle Wednesday.

"We knew we needed to stop those two, and we almost did," Kailua (6-2-3) coach Wil Kimura said. "We wanted someone else to score on us."

Kanehira said she also was thinking about last year's loss to Kailua

"(I thought about it) the whole day; not letting them beat us twice," she said.

In a back-and-forth match filled with kick-ball in the first half, the only excitement came with two minutes left, when a Kailua defender almost scored an own goal after deflecting an 'Aiea cross directly toward the goal, but Kanoa-Doctorello saved the ball.

Pearl City 1, Kapolei 0: Senior forward Chelsea Arakawa scored in the 33th minute on a header over the goalkeeper's head to give the Chargers (10-0-1), the West No. 1 seed, the win.

Arakawa received a high pass from the left side from junior Keilyn Tanimoto, who lofted the pass into the mouth of the goal.

"I pretty much saw the ball coming and I wanted to get it so I jumped," Arakawa said. "(Tanimoto) always has nice serves into the goal and she always hits it in the right places."

At Moanalua

Mililani 2, Kalaheo 1: Natalie Wong and Raimee Ortega scored goals to lift the Trojans (9-0-2), the West No. 2 seed, past the Mustangs.

Lauren Souza scored for Kalaheo (6-3-3).

Moanalua 2, Roosevelt 0: Ayasha Abut and Tanya Nojiri scored to help the Menehunes (7-0-4), the East's top seed, defeated the Rough Riders (6-4-2).

Girls JV Championship: Brittany Changa and Allison Kagawa scored as Mililani defeated Pearl City, 2-0, to help the Trojans claim their fifth consecutive JV championship yesterday at Pearl City. Mililani is the only team to win the JV title since its inception.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.