In a wild finish to what was a rugged Interscholastic League of Honolulu boys soccer season, 'Iolani tied Kamehameha, 1-1, yesterday to capture the championship and the ILH's top seed and first-round bye in the upcoming state tournament.

The visiting Raiders finished 9-1-2 (29 championship points), while the Warriors ended up 8-2-2 (26 points) to gain the league's other state berth.

Punahou, which upset Kamehameha 2-1 on Wednesday, finishes third at 8-3-1 (25 points).

The Buffanblu lost out on a chance for a special playoff for second place when Kamehameha senior Zane Dydasco scored on a penalty kick in the final minute yesterday to forge the tie. The Warriors had played the final 19 minutes with only nine players after receiving their second red card.

"We're kind of bummed to tie, because we did want to win the championship," said Dydasco, a center-midfielder. "But given the circumstances, we'll take the tie and go to states. Finishing second is not too bad, because my freshman year we finished second in the ILH and ended up winning the state title."

'Iolani entered yesterday's game in the driver's seat, because even a loss would have tied them for first place and forced a winner-take-all playoff. Things looked even better for the Raiders in the 30th minute when Blaine Gonsalves took a pass from Kevin Fung while racing down the right flank and dribbled to about 15 yards out, where he shot it into the net inside the back post.

Three minutes later, a Kamehameha and 'Iolani player got tangled up near the left corner of the Warriors' goal line. After the ball rolled out of bounds, the Kamehameha player was issued a red card for unsportsmanlike conduct.

"I thought (the referee) used that first red card to control the game," Warriors coach Andrew Ah New said. "Our guy needed to control himself, too. But I still thought we had a chance (with one man down) because it's tough playing in this wind. I just wanted us to get out of there and survive the first half.

"We were only down 1-0, and I didn't think one goal would be enough to beat us."

But the situation looked bleaker in the 61st minute, when another Kamehameha player received a red card after shoving an 'Iolani player.

"The second red card was justified," Ah New said. "But to our guys' credit, they didn't put their heads down after that. They wanted to continue playing, and they fought back."

The Raiders had three close shots on goal in the 11-on-9 situation, but came up empty. Warriors keeper Micah Swain made a diving save on one of them near the right post.

With less than a minute remaining, Kamehameha pushed up and earned a corner kick from the right side. The kick sailed toward the other sideline, but a foul was called on 'Iolani in the penalty box, and the Warriors were awarded a penalty kick.

The penalty kick line, however, was covered in deep sand due to field repairs.

"I was afraid I was going to slip," Dydasco said. "I play with a lot of 'Iolani guys on my club team, and they know I always go to the same side every time, so this time I went to the other side."

His shot to the right side found the net, setting off a loud celebration from a home crowd of about 350 at Kunuiakea Stadium.

"I admit we were exhausted (playing with only nine)," Dydasco said. "I was just trying to keep everybody going, and were pushing for that last corner. We kept pushing, we were focused on getting down there."

Raiders coach Chris Lee gave credit to the Warriors for playing hard despite being outnumbered.

"We knew Kamehameha was going to come out and not sit back, even being short-handed," Lee said. "We knew they were going to try and get a goal to tie, and they were playing a lot of long balls."

INTERSCHOLASTIC LEAGUE OF HONOLULU

YESTERDAY

PAC-FIVE 10, DAMIEN 1

Goal scorers—Christian Bradley 5, Troy Toyama, Kyohei Sekino, Brandon Ohara, Matt Burkhalter, Caden Gusman. Dam: Nate Calio 1.

PUNAHOU 1, MID-PACIFIC 0

Goal scorers—Pun: John Cowen.

O'AHU INTERSCHOLASTIC ASSOCIATION

RED DIVISION

THIRD PLACE

MOANALUA 2, 'AIEA 1 (PKS)

Goal scorers—Moan: Keenan Lee. 'Aiea: Alek Biggs.

FIFTH PLACE

KAISER 2, CASTLE 1 (PKS)

Goal scorers—Kais: John Moats. Cast: Sean Lomont.

WHITE DIVISION

THIRD PLACE

KAILUA 2, MCKINLEY 1 (PKS)

Goal scorers—Kail: Marcus Amorin. Kail: James Crowell.

Read Wes Nakama's blog on prep sports at http://blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.