Blas leads Konawaena to seismic upset of ‘Iolani

Konawaena pulled off a seismic upset of ‘Iolani in the Division I quarterfinals of The Queen’s Medical Center/HHSAA Girls Soccer State Championships on Thursday at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.

The Wildcats survived, 2-1, after regulation and two overtimes, thanks to a 5-4 advantage on penalty kicks to vanquish the two-time defending champion Raiders.

Kyanah Blas‘ fingertip save of Sasha Asselbaye‘s hard shot in the second overtime kept her team in it, and then Blas made a big stop on ‘Iolani’s Taylor Arakaki in the penalty-kick portion.

After the first five PK shooters for both teams, the score was tied 4-4. Annika Siddons stepped up to score for a 5-4 Wildcats advantage before Hailey Kawamura‘s tying attempt for ‘Iolani went high, ending it in favor of the Big Island champions.

“It was a major upset for us,” Blas said. “I had confidence (on the PKs), with my team in the background saying ‘Believe,’ which is my word. So I was like, ‘OK guys, I’m going to to believe in you guys.’ It made me believe in myself that I could save that shot (by Arakaki).”

Kristin Masunaga, the coach of the unseeded Raiders (10-3-1), said her team was flat.

“We played our worst game and the quarterfinals of the state tournament is not the time to play your worst game,” she said.

The third-seeded Wildcats (12-3-1) move on to play unseeded Campbell in the semifinals Friday night. The Sabers knocked off OIA champion and second-seeded Aiea in another Thursday quarterfinal.

“For the Big Island, it shows that we’re catching up,” said Konawaeana coach Kaua Wall, a 2009 graduate of the school and former player. “This is a big thing for us. Our level of play is getting higher and higher and our confidence is getting higher and higher. We’re showing we can compete on the D-I state level.”

Added Nanea Wall, who scored with about 10 minutes left in regulation for the Wildcats for a 1-all tie: “I think we caught them at a good time. It was a good counter. We work on countering. We work on positivity, too — bringing each other up. We’ve talked about (winning a state title), but all that mattered was tonight. We’re hoping to regroup and focus on the next one.”

‘Iolani had a nine-game winning streak in the state tournament before suffering its first loss against a neighbor island team at states since losing to Kapaa in 1998.

“We faced a lot of adversity this year,” said Raiders defender Kelsey Wong, referring to some injuries to key players. “We wanted to show that nothing can stop us. I’m so proud of everyone. Sometimes the ball doesn’t go your way.”

HHSAA D-I Tournament

HHSAA D-II Tournament