An inexperienced Punahou girls soccer team picked up a must-win 1-0 victory over Kamehameha in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu game yesterday at Kamehameha.

Punahou senior forward Ashley Nied scored the lone goal with less than 10 seconds left in the first half as the three-time defending state champion Buffanblu improved to 5-2 and stayed close to first-place Kamehameha (5-1).

"If we lost today, we were done," Punahou coach Jorge Barbosa said. "They are still playing like inexperienced players, but I can't fault them as far as heart and desire."

Punahou, which graduated 2005 Advertiser State Player of the Year Kelsey Baker and All-State selections Kelsie Look and Rachael Lau, started the season 1-2, including a surprise 1-0 loss to Pac-Five in the league opener. It also lost to Kamehameha in the first round.

Kamehameha and Punahou play again at Kapi'olani Park on Feb. 1, which will likely determine the ILH champion and recipient of the league's lone state tournament berth. There are five ILH girls teams, and they play three rounds.

"The ILH always comes down to the third round," Kamehameha coach Michele Nagamine said.

Nied scored when sophomore forward/midfielder Erin Rementer chased down a Kamehameha defender and blocked an attempted clear kick, which bounced to Nied in the middle of the penalty box.

"(Rementer) made a great run and put the pressure on," Nied said. "I shot it as hard as I could and luckily it went in."

Nagamine said the Warriors missed two opportunities to clear the ball, and committed one of soccer's cardinal sins when they tried to clear the ball across the middle of their defensive area.

NOTES

Both teams were bolstered by the return of players who were forced to choose between playing for their high school or club teams because of the league's "outside participation rule." Many top players belong to club teams that entered tournaments in San Diego over Thanksgiving weekend, after practices already began. The girls tournament is the "Surf Cup" and the boys is "Nomads."

The league bylaws say that soccer players are among those "not allowed outside participation during their ILH sport season, beginning with the starting date of that sport."

Kamehameha coach Michele Nagamine said she could have lost as many as seven players, but only one decided to play for her club team. Punahou coach Jorge Barbosa said he could have lost one player to a club team.

Several parents signed a letter asking to change the bylaw, but ILH president Rich Schaffer, the principal at Mid-Pacific Institute, said the "principals affirmed their support of the bylaw" in October.

INTERSCHOLASTIC LEAGUE OF HONOLULU

GIRLS VARSITY

Iolani 3, Mid-Pacific 2

Iol: Nicole Ha, Chelsea Unemori, Lara Nicol. MPI: Jenny Chan, Miya Quinn.

BOYS JV

Punahou-Blue 1, Punahou-Gold 0

Mid-Pacific 2, Pac-Five 0

Kamehameha-Blue 2, Kamehameha-White 0

O'AHU INTERSCHOLASTIC ASSOCIATION

EASTERN DIVISION

BOYS

Kailua 4, Farrington 1

Kail: Christopher Arias 3, Ken Gibson. Farr: Larry Siuta.

Kaimuki 3, Kahuku 2

Kaim: Katsu Koike 2, Ethan Neves. Kah: Kenneth Kung, Ian Righterink.

Kalaheo 5, McKinley 1

Kalah: Stuart Aiu 4, Tino Smiley. McK: Yohan Kim.

Kalani 2, Moanalua 1

Kalan: Danny Higa 2. Moa: Jason Honjo.

Kaiser 2, Roosevelt 0

Kais: John Moats, Kyle Niiro.

GIRLS VARSITY

Kailua 3, Farrington 0

Farr: Michele Yoshida, Courtney Kimhan, Kyri Vesta-Hirata.

Kahuku 4, Kaimuki 0

Kah: Cassy Young 2, Maile Gannon, Noell Au.

Kalaheo 3, McKinley 0

Kalah: Lauren Souza, Dianne Uehara, Johnna Frantzen.

Moanalua 3, Kalani 2

Moa: Ashley Dolan 2, Vanessa Butin. Kalan: Lyndsee Sugano, Marcy Fujimoto.

Kaiser 3, Roosevelt 2

Kais: Kehau Kim, Rachel Tomita, Amanda Suiso. Roos: Larilyn Alota 2.

GIRLS JV

Kahuku 2, Kailua 0

Castle 3, Kalaheo 0

Farrington 0, Roosevelt 0

Kalani 1, Moanalua 0

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.