The ‘Iolani girls soccer team isn’t going to give away the ILH title without a fight.
CJ Fajardo scored ‘Iolani’s lone goal in the 58th minute and the defending state champion beat the Buffanblu 1-0 on Friday at ‘Iolani. The loss was Punahou’s second in four days after Kamehameha beat the Buffanblu by the same crushing score of 1-0.
It’s still early, so Punahou still has a realistic shot of returning to the state tournament. But an ILH championship will be a much tougher proposition. The Buffanblu will have to run the table the rest of the way while hoping Kamehameha or ‘Iolani can sweep their head-to-head matchups. An upset or tie by a Division II team throws everything into chaos, but that is unlikely.
‘Iolani and Kamehameha don’t tangle until Dec. 23.
There seems to be no difference between the Warriors and Raiders in the early going. ‘Iolani has scored four goals and given up one to Pac-Five. Kamehameha’s ratio is 12-1, with the lone goal allowed coming to Sacred Hearts.
Each team has got a goal from seven different players and nobody has more than three.
Kylee Kim-Bustillos, Shantel Torres-Benito and Pikake Kaneshiro lead ‘Iolani with three goals in three games while Kiani Halushka and Kawailani Makue, the hero of the 2012 state championship match, each have three in three games for the Warriors.
Punahou’s Shay Nakahira leads the circuit with four goals in four games thanks to a hat trick against Mid-Pacific. Kayla Watanabe of Mid-Pacific leads the ILH in goals with six in two games after hat tricks against Pac-Five and St. Francis.
The Owls (2-1) already have two wins in the Division II standings, ahead of Pac-Fice (1-3), St. Francis (0-2) and Sacred Hearts (0-3).
Strom-Okimoto makes her move
Aiea’s Raisa Strom-Okimoto is back in a big way.
The Na Alii junior missed last year with an injury after scoring 18 goals the year before and seems to be just as good as she was before. After scoring two goals in a 3-2 win over Pearl City and a 3-1 win over Waianae, Strom-Okimoto dismantled Waipahu with five goals in an 8-0 win on Friday to give her nine for the season and tie Pearl City’s Tasha Inong for the Oahu lead. Inong scored two in a 10-0 win over Leilehua on Friday and has scored at least two in each of her team’s first four games.
More than four goals in a game in the OIA this year:
Raina Strom-Okimoto, Aiea, 5 vs. Waipahu
Malia Aluli, Kahuku, 4 vs. Kaimuki
Cassandra Stetser, Mililani, 4 vs. Leilehua
Sonest Furtado, Waianae, 4 vs. Waipahu
Kapolei and Campbell pace the OIA at 4-0, with Kahuku, Kaiser, Kailua, Castle and Mililani right behind them at 3-0.
COMMENTS