Kalaheo clutches third OIA D-II title in six years

Waianae was charging hard for the victory, but didn’t have quite enough for a first-ever OIA Division II girls soccer championship.

Instead, Kalaheo took the crown for the third time in the last six seasons with a 2-1 victory over the Seariders on Saturday night at Kaiser Stadium.

Now, the Mustangs (4-7) will try to do something they’ve never done before — win a state D-II championship.

“It’s unbelieveable that we’ve come this far and are going into states,” said striker Shaelyn Kam, who scored the team’s first goal. “We’re buidling that winning mind-set and are showing we are able to work together as a team. We’ve worked so hard building that foundation. It’s just unbelievable.”

Kiana Ramie broke a 1-all tie in the 68th minute by heading in a bounding ball off of a long free kick from midfielder Macayla Jahnke.

“I’m very proud because we haven’t had the best season, but when it came to the championships, there was two weeks of putting in work that’s been very intense and I definitely think all that work paid off,” Jahnke said. “I think we’re going to have to put in a lot more work. States is way more competitive than (OIAs).”

Waianae second-year coach Kanani Blue was smiling afterward, but the smile got even brighter when she was reminded her team is also going to states.

“We will regroup and go into states strong,” she said. “I cannot be more proud of how my team played. They really played their hearts out to the last second and that’s all I could ask for.”

Blue, formerly Kanani Taaca, played five years, including a redshirt year, as a goalkeeper for the University of Hawaii after her high school career at Kamehameha.

“I think I learned my coaching style from some great mentors, coach Michele Nagamine at UH and Missy Moore, who I coached under at Kamehameha. They both taught me a lot about being a coach and how it’s about developing the girls overall.”