By CLINT ZAVODNY
By CLINT ZAVODNY
Stephens Media Hawaii
KEALAKEKUA – Kaulana Ruedy punched in a goal in the eighth minute of the second overtime to break a scoreless tie as Konawaena defeated crosstown rival Kealakehe 1-0 in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division I semifinals Wednesday night at Julian R. Yates Field.
“It was very intense,” said the junior forward. “We came out here wanting to win so badly, and we put all our hearts into it. We had no option but to win. It was just amazing.”
With the victory, the defending league champion Wildcats (9-1-2) advance to the BIIF finals, where they will play Hilo (10-1-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Kamehameha’s Paiea Field. Wednesday’s win also secured Konawaena a berth to the Hawaii High School Athletic Association tournament in Oahu. Last season the Wildcats defeated the Waveriders in the BIIF finals.
“It feels so good,” said Konawaena sophomore goalkeeper Taiana Tolleson, who held the Kealakehe offense out of the net all night. “We’ve worked so hard all season to be here. All our training and conditioning have finally paid off. No, it’s not the BIIF finals yet, but to get to the finals we had to win in the playoffs and we did it. And it feels amazing and I’m really proud of the team. … I was just thankful we didn’t go to PKs.”
The game was evenly matched as expected, as the two teams played to a 1-1 draw when they met earlier in the season. And Wednesday night’s contest was just two minutes away from going to penalty kicks to decide the winner.
“I was thinking we needed to just score and win,” Ruedy said. “It was nerve-racking, but I am so happy we won. We knew it was going to be hard since we tied them during the season and in the preseason, so we were ready for this.
“Hopefully, we’ll carry this momentum with us to Saturday.”
After a very well-balanced first half, Konawaena looked more aggressive in the second half, took more shots, and really put pressure on the Waveriders (7-2-3).
With nine minutes left in regulation, Wildcats forward Anathena Tuppein sped down field on fast break, split defenders and broke free. The crowd roared to its feet as she ripped a shot, but it sailed too high, splitting the uprights behind goal.
Midway through the first overtime period, Ruedy hammered off a shot at a tough angled, but it was deflected at he last second by a diving Sulley Schuster , who played equally phenomenal game in front of the goal for Kealakehe.
“Tough way to end, but someone had to lose,” said Waveriders head coach Jim Smith. “Very good game, both teams are pretty equal.
“Only two minutes left until we were going to PKs, I already had my five down. I’m not too disappointed, they played their hearts out, but I know my seniors are.”