The Kalaheo boys soccer team received two goals from its usual starting goalkeeper to advance to the O'ahu Interscholastic Association semifinals.

Kalaheo defeated East foe Roosevelt, 3-2, in the quarterfinals last night at Roosevelt High School.

"I never played (goalkeeper) in my life, and I was scared to play in the playoffs, so I asked them to not play in the goal," forward/goalkeeper Timothy Heu said.

Mustang captain Nathan Johnson said the team has confidence in Heu no matter where he plays. "It seems like every time he's on the field we score," Johnson said. "But he's strong in the goal, too."

Kalaheo (7-1-4) advances to play Kalani (8-3-1) in one semifinal Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Moanalua. Kapolei (10-2-0) will play either Mililani or Leilehua in the other at 5:15.

All four semifinalists automatically qualify for the state tournament. The OIA is awarded a fifth berth yet to be determined.

Freshman forward Joshua Amoroso also scored for the Mustangs, who rallied from an early 1-0 deficit.

"We're a comeback team," Johnson said. "We seem to play stronger when we're losing."

Roosevelt sophomore forward Alex Fowler scored in the first minute when he chased down a long ball, had it briefly stolen away, then he took it back and shot it into the far right side of the goal.

"We didn't panic," Kalaheo coach John Nakagawa said. "We knew it was early and the boys might have been nervous."

The Mustangs scored four minutes later on a free kick that sailed over the heads of the Roosevelt defenders. Heu was near the left goalpost and tapped the ball into the open goal.

"I checked to see if it was going in the goal, and it wasn't, so I put it in," Heu said.

After the flurry in the opening minutes, the teams were scoreless through the remainder of the half, although each had chances.

Amoroso ended the scoring drought in the opening minutes of the second half on a pass from Johnson. Johnson worked the ball up to the penalty box then passed it to Amoroso, who beat a defender and shot low into the goal.

Heu's second goal made it 3-1 in the 58th minute. Johnson shot a ball that deflected off a defender and continued into the 18-yard box, where Heu was heading.

"It went between his legs," Heu said. "I wasn't expecting it. I was running just in case."

With injuries to several players, including midfielder/forward Dylan Eichelberger, "everybody stepped it up," Nakagawa said.

Roosevelt closed to 3-2 on a 23-yard free kick by Leslie Nwapa that rocketed past the wall and into the right side of the goal.

KALANI 2, 'AIEA 0

Kalani advanced to the semifinals for the first time on goals by senior forward Carter Kam and junior defender Dylan Taschner.

After a scoreless first half, Kam broke the tie in the 72nd minute on an assist by Taschner.

Kalani junior defender Codi Oshiro passed the ball to Taschner on a free kick, and Taschner crossed it from left to right to Kam, who headed the ball into the goal.

Taschner scored on another free kick four minutes later, after Oshiro passed the ball to him down the right sideline, and Taschner dribbled into the 18-yard box and shot into the far left corner.

"It's what we practiced and we did what we were supposed to do," Taschner said.

OTHER QUARTERFINAL SCORES

AT LEILEHUA

KAPOLEI 1, MOANALUA 0 (PK)

Penalty kicks—Kap: Ignacio Martinez, Kainoa Bryant, Curtis Kiyabu.

LEILEHUA 2, MILILANI 0

Goals—Lei: Syd Tom 2.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.