An afternoon of intense, dramatic Interscholastic League of Honolulu boys soccer yesterday instantly turned into anti-climax afterward with the stunning announcement that Saint Louis forfeited its three victories and a tie due to an ineligible player.

That includes a 3-2 upset over Kamehameha on Jan. 30, meaning the Warriors clinched the ILH championship yesterday with an 11-0-1 record after their 9-0 victory over Damien. In a match on the adjacent field at Kapi'olani Park, Punahou (10-1-1) shut out 'Iolani, 2-0.

The Buffanblu had thought their victory forced a winner-take-all playoff for the title tomorrow. But Punahou athletic director Tom Holden gathered the team and the players' parents after the game to announce the Buffanblu instead will be traveling to Maui on Saturday to play Maui Interscholastic League runner-up Baldwin for the final state tournament berth.

"We really wanted to play Kamehameha again," said Punahou junior Caton Smith, who scored the Buffanblu's first goal yesterday from about 20 yards in the 44th minute. "But we can't change what happened. We just have to show up (on Saturday), play hard and hope for the best."

That's what they did yesterday, and 'Iolani (7-5) was up to the challenge, holding Punahou scoreless in the first half despite five corner kicks and four shots on goal.

Holden, who got the news about Saint Louis around kickoff time, told Buffanblu coach Bob Clague about it at halftime and let Clague decide whether to tell the players. He elected not to.

"I didn't think it would be fair to tell them at halftime," Clague said. "It would have been like a knife in the heart."

Smith said it would not have made much of a difference.

"Any time we play 'Iolani, we're going to try hard no matter what," he said.

Smith got open on the top left corner of the penalty box about four minutes into the second half, and after stopping the ball, he did a 180 spin to his right and lined a shot into the left side of the net.

The Buffanblu outshot the Raiders 11-5 in the second half, but 'Iolani threatened in the 77th minute when a short header off a corner kick bounced off the crossbar, and the rebound shot hit the right post and ricocheted out.

Nick Love then drilled a left-footed shot into the right corner of the net in the 80th minute.

Meanwhile, about 70 yards away, Kamehameha quietly celebrated its first ILH title since 2002.

"I'm relieved," said Warriors coach Andrew Ah New. "We would have had to play on Thursday, and then possibly on Saturday and then next week in the state tournament. I didn't want that."

According to an ILH memo sent to The Advertiser, the ineligible player violated the league's outside participation rules, which pertain to club and tournament play during the high school soccer season.

ILH soccer coordinator Jim Bukes said Saint Louis self-reported the violation.

KAMEHAMEHA 9, DAMIEN 0

Goals: Sheldon Costa 2, Kimo Komomua 2, Brendan Ogata, Ryan Ho, David Obando, Gareth Gomez, Ikaika Pidot.

MID-PACIFIC 5, SAINT LOUIS 2

Goals: MPI — Lucas Sun 2, Pono Borgess-Akau, Marc Obando, Cody Sullivan. SL — Kekoa Peltier, Austin Wakinekona.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.