WAIPAHU — Ikaika Fuerte scored on one penalty kick and blocked two others yesterday to lift Kapa'a to a dramatic 1-0 victory (3-2 in PKs) over Seabury Hall in the JN Automotive Group Boys Soccer Division II Championship semifinals.

The Kaua'i Interscholastic Federation champion Warriors improved to 9-0-1 in the regular and postseason and will face Hawai'i Prep (14-3) in today's title game at Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Stadium.

Kickoff is set for 5 p.m., and the game will be televised live statewide on OC16.

Fuerte, a senior captain, played at forward throughout yesterday's 80 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods. But when the score remained 0-0 sending the game into the penalty-kick phase, he put on a yellow goalkeeper jersey for the first time this season.

"His reactions are the quickest, so I knew if we went into penalty kicks, he would be our guy back there (in goal)," said Kapa'a coach Kevin Cram. "He's a player, and I know he can do whatever we need him to do."

That included being the first shooter in the Warriors' lineup.

Fuerte quickly put Kapa'a up 1-0 by placing the ball into the lower right corner. Seabury Hall missed its first penalty kick, and Caleb Sarsona placed another shot into the same spot as Fuerte's to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead. On the Spartans' next attempt, Fuerte dived to his right and made a lunging save.

Kaisen Carillo then put his shot into the upper right corner and Kapa'a was up, 3-0.

In a do-or-die attempt, however, Seabury Hall's Jacob Sandoval shot into the upper middle portion of the net past Fuerte, who had dived to his left. Kapa'a's next shot went off the crossbar, and Conner Snow made it 3-2 with a shot into the upper right corner.

Spartans keeper Janoah Osborne then blocked the Warriors' fifth shot, giving Seabury Hall one final chance.

But Fuerte dived to his left and knocked the shot away, giving Kapa'a a return trip to the DII state finals.

"I looked at my teammates and all the parents (before the final shot), and I knew I had to do something to finish this game," said Fuerte, who started his youth soccer career as a goalkeeper. "I feel we deserve to be there (in the finals)."

The Warriors certainly had their chances to end it in regulation and overtime, with 15 shots on goal in the final 50 minutes. The ball seemed to go everywhere — right, left, over and off the crossbar — but into the net.

Osborne also made several clutch saves, including one while diving to his right in the 92nd minute. Christian Taniguchi, Kapa'a's starting keeper, also made a few key saves including a stab to deflect a shot in the 78th minute.

"We played (the Warriors) in the preseason, so we knew they were a hard-nosed team," Spartans coach Mike Russell said. "They really had us on our heels in overtime. Fuerte is a gifted athlete and is tough as nails. My hat's off to them."

HAWAI'I PREP 2, MPI 1

Joey Oh scored in the 62nd minute and Korey Tsubota added another goal in the 72nd minute to put No. 2 seeded Ka Makani up, 2-0.

Ryne Shimabukuro helped the Owls (7-8) close it to 2-1 with a goal in the 75th minute.

Read his blog on high school sports at http://preptalk.honadvblogs.com.