WAIPAHU, Hawaii — There will be no case of the Mondays for the Punahou girls soccer team.
The Buffanblu jumped on Kamehameha early in Wednesday’s Interscholastic League of Honolulu playoff for the league title and cruised to a 4-0 victory at the Waipio Soccer Complex, awarding the defending state champions an abbreviated route through the bracket.
Punahou’s first ILH title since 2017 snapped a streak of five for Kamehameha since 2018. Seniors Xehlia Salanoa and Anuhea “Satchie” Ilae recorded a dual brace in the season rubber match between the rivals who played for the third time in 13 days.
The lopsided result on a worn, weathered field fronting Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium gave Punahou an ideal road to repeat: a three-match road beginning Feb. 1. Unsurprisingly, Punahou (9-1) was revealed as the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Motiv8 Foundation/HHSAA Division I Girls Soccer Championships.
Kamehameha has the longer road through the 12-team bracket, starting with a Monday matchup against Waipahu.
“It’s huge,” Buffanblu coach Shelley Izuno said. “We’ve never been there before, so I’ll let you know (how it is) after I go through it. We usually play on Monday, so I just appreciate the extra time for them to rest.”
OIA champion Campbell was assigned the No. 2 seed, Kamehameha-Maui the No. 3 and Hilo No. 4.
The Buffanblu lost 1-0 to Kamehameha on Saturday after winning the first matchup, 4-0 on Jan. 12. Prior to the Kamehameha game, Izuno’s team eked out a 1-0 win over Iolani, making for a rough week for a team with expectations and a dozen seniors who know what it takes to win in the postseason.
“We were flat against Iolani, flat against (Kamehameha),” Izuno said. “So, that was a good wake-up call and honestly we needed the loss to refocus them. I’m just super proud of their effort and it’s the entire team.”
Punahou struck in the third minute when they won a throw-in, strung a few passes together, and midfielder Emily Daehler slotted a through ball to the left foot of Salanoa, who one-timed it into the net from the left wing.
“Our game plan is always to get a shot off in the first minute and try to score a goal within five minutes,” said Salanoa, who was coming off a few weeks of an illness. “We knew we just had to connect with each other and play our game, which is playing on the ground and connecting and finding feet. When Emily played that through ball to me, I knew I had to get it to the back of the net.”
Carly Cormack drew a penalty in the 33rd minute when she was run over from behind by a Warrior amid a scramble in the box. Ilae, the shot-taker, calmly delivered the ball center-high to the left post, out of the reach of Warriors keeper Maile Kahele.
Salanoa and Ilae scored on rebounded balls in the box in the 38th and 55th minutes.
“On Saturday, we were kind of hesitant,” Salanoa said. “We had to make sure we were more reactive to the ball and anticipated the ball better, rather than just standing around. So, when Maya (Yoshimura) kicked that ball, I had to be ready just in case they tipped it over, which (they) did. I had to make sure I followed on that back post.”
Punahou and Kamehameha met in the past two state finals, splitting the meetings. This year’s Buffanblu have the Warriors nearly doubled up in seniors, however.
After Wednesday’s match played out – Kamehameha’s third in five days – Warriors coach Missy Moore found herself thinking about the long game. She hopes to have several players that were out nursing injuries back for the state tournament.
The playoff became an opportunity for several younger players to receive playing time they wouldn’t otherwise have had.
“We were realistic about what could happen, but also optimistic,” said Moore, who has coached the Warriors to have state titles. “I’m just going to give it out to my team. They were fighters. They’re never going to quit.”
In Division II, two-time defending champion Pac-Five was awarded the top seed. UPDATE: The HHSAA changed its Division II bracket to make Kauai High the top seed, as there were not enough ILH D-II teams for Pac-Five to qualify for seeding, the governing body said. Pac-Five became an unseeded participant.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.