Iolani’s reign is over.
The Punahou girls soccer team has mathmatically clinched the ILH’s top berth in the state championship and the league title that comes with it.
The Bufffanblu (10-0-1) clinched the title on Saturday with its 6-0 win over Pac-Five. Punahou has 31 points this season with just one match remaining. Undefeated ‘Iolani (6-0-3) has 21 points but only three matches and a possibility of nine points remaining. The rivals play each other to end the season on Jan. 30.
It is the Buffanblu’s first ILH title since 2011 and they return to states after missing out last year. ‘Iolani has won each of the last two ILH titles after going dry since 1999. Punahou has won the league 20 times, compared to nine for Iolani, seven for Kamehameha and one for Sacred Hearts.
That leaves the battle for the league’s second state berth between ‘Iolani and Kamehameha, and the Raiders have the decided edge. ‘Iolani leads Kamehameha (6-2-2) by one point, 21-20, and the Raiders have three matches left to Kamehameha’s two.
The Warriors play Mid-Pacific twice while the Raiders play Division II teams St. Francis and Pac-Five before closing with the Buffanblu. Should both Kamehameha and ‘Iolani win out before then, the Raiders will go into that game with the champs with the berth clinched.
If ‘Iolani suffers a hiccup and Kamehameha takes care of business against Mid-Pacific, the ‘iolani-Punahou clash could be the decider.
The league’s divsion II title is a tossup between Mid-Pacific (4-4-1) and Pac-Five (3-6-1). The Owls play Kamehameha twice and finish with St. Francis. The Wolfpack play Iolani and Sacred Hearts. Mid-Pacific needs only a win and a tie to clinch.
The OIA East ends its regular season on Wednesday with the playoff teams already determined. Kalaheo (3-5-1) will play its final game of the season against Castle while the other six teams tune up for the postseason. Kahuku (7-0-2) has the edge on the top seed, but could lose it if it falls or ties to Kailua on Wednesday and either Kaiser (7-1-1) loses to Kalani or Moanalua (7-2-0) falls to Roosevelt.
Winless Kaimuki (0-9) is out of the playoffs. The Bulldogs can tie Farrington with a win over McKinley, but the Governors beat the Bulldogs 3-0 earlier this season.
Mililani and Pearl City are going right down to the wire for the OIA West’s top seed. The Trojans (8-0-1) and Chargers (7-1-1) play each other on Wednesday with the winner being seeded first. Mililani takes it in the event of a tie. Waianae (0-5-4) has the edge over Leilehua (0-7-2) for the final red berth, but the Mules can sneak in if they can beat Kapolei and Waianae loses to Aiea.
The top seed in the OIA West White could come down to a tiebreaker. Waipahu (3-4-3) is in the clubhouse with 12 points and Nanakuli (2-4-3) can equal the Marauders with a win over Waialua on Tuesday. Waipahu and Nanakuli tied 1-1 in the regular season.
The bottom half of the White West is just as tight. Waialua (2-6-1) leads Radford (1-6-2) by two points with the loser’s season over. The Bulldogs play Nanakuli on Tuesday while the Rams play a tough Campbell squad. Waialua beat Radford 4-0 in the regular season, meaning a tie goes to the Bulldogs.
Girls top scorers
Kamaile Aluli, Kahuku, 16 (9 games)
Tia Furuta, Mililani, 16 (9 games)
Tori Chinen, Kalani, 16 (9 games)
Hoku Afong, Moanlaua, 14 (9 games)
Kai Hasegawa, Kaiser, 14 (9 games)
Sara Olanda, Aiea, 13 (9 games)
Daelenn Tokunaga, Pearl City, 12 (9 games)
Hailey Graham, Moanalua, 11 (9 games)
Noelle Mercado, Kaiser, 11 (9 games)
Kaile Halvorsen, Punahou, 11 (11 games)
Kristen Hori, Iolani, 10 (9 games)
Shay Nakahira, Punahou, 10 (11 games)
Randi Fontes, Pearl City, 8 (9 games)
Kailana Kaeo, Mililani, 7 (9 games)
Alysha Somera, Waipahu, 7 (10 games)
Kaylyn Fukuji, Punahou, 7 (11 games)
Megan Goo, Iolani, 7 (9 games)
Sam Masca, Iolani, 7 (9 games)
Kayla Watanabe, Mid-Pacific, 7 (9 games)
Goals per game by conference:
ILH: 5.4
OIA East: 4.4
OIA West: 4.2
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