Fontes hurt, but Pearl City still edges Moanalua on PKs

Pearl City won the match, but may have lost senior star Sunshine Fontes.

Fontes hurt her knee while scoring a goal in the first half of the Chargers’ 3-2 (3-0 PKs) OIA girls soccer semifinal victory over Moanalua iat Kaiser Stadium on Thursday night.

Coach Frank Baumholtz III thinks Fontes may have injured her medial collateral ligament, and if that’s the case, the outlook is not good for her returning to action as the season heads to a close.

“I think she might be done, unless it’s just a bruise,” Baumholtz said. “We’re going to have to wait and see.”

Fontes, a senior, was the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Player of the Year as a freshman. She is a member of the U.S. U-17 national team.

Her goal, in which she sped by defenders on the left wing and deposited a low shot into the far corner, tied the score at 2-all late in the first half.

In the PK portion after regulation and two overtimes, the Chargers got a gigantic boost from goalkeeper Hepua Sorenson, who was brought up from the JV team about a week ago and came in for starter Naomi Takata (cut inside lip) in the second half.

Sorenson dove for saves on two Moanalua PK shooters. A third Na Menehune shot went wide.

“It’s a storybook situation,” Baumholtz said about Sorenson’s heroics. “She walks in and blocks two shots.”

Caylie Uyema, Saige Kalani and Soraya Santos all scored on their PK attempts for Pearl City (9-1-1), which will play against Aiea on Saturday for the OIA title at Kaiser Stadium.

“Fortunately, it’s Saturday,” Baumholtz said. “Tomorrow, we’ll run, jog, stretch and everybody’s gotta work out the boo-boos.”

The Chargers are going for their ninth OIA championship and will also be moving on for a try at a sixth Division I state title.

Moanalua (9-1-1), which got a goal and an assist from Alyssa Enoki, plays Mililani for third place Friday at Castle. After the tournament, Na Menehune will also be headed to the D-I states.

With saves of two rocket shots from Pearl City’s Uyema and Santos in the first and second overtimes, Moanalua goalkeeper Alexis Davis allowed her team to make it to PKs.

“She (Davis) did outstanding keeping us in there,” Na Menehune coach Nikki Dela Pena said. “They could have easily ended it. This game really pushed the character of our girls. They never gave up and kept pushing. In the end, tired legs attributed to some miscues on PKs.”

OIA Playoffs