The Chaminade men’s soccer team recorded a 0-0-tie against Hawaii Pacific University on Wednesday, Oct. 17, ending an 11-game losing streak to the Sea Warriors since 2007. For a program that hadn’t won a match in nearly two years, this is just the latest success in a season of improvements for the Swords, who have won two games, including one on the road, and tied two others.
“This group has turned the page in regards to understanding that the little things matter,” said head coach Jason Higgins. “Understanding that discipline matters, punctuality matters, how hard you train every day matters, how you eat matters.”
Head coach Jason Higgins said the tie with HPU was the result of the team meetings on the California trip where individuals took responsibility for holding others accountable for behaviors that prevented the team from moving foreword.
Goalkeeper Conor Knox, a junior recorded 13 saves. His highest recorded saves of the season and a key performance in the game against HPU.
“We took a bad beating from HPU last time,” Knox said. “We wouldn’t give up, which ended in a 0-0 tie.”
The Swords still struggled on offense being outshot 27-3 by HPU.
The men’s soccer team was riddled with injuries this season, including four concussions and two season-ending injuries.
But the young team with only two seniors has seen results from players stepping up and filling the roles of the injured starters, Higgins said.
On the trip to the mainland in early October the Swords lost three straight games but battled to a 1-0 victory over Point Loma Nazarene University.
Chaminade men’s soccer team competed in its last road game of the season against UH-Hilo on Saturday, Oct. 20, and came away with the third draw of the season.
The Swords play its last three games at home against Dominican (Friday, Oct. 26), Academy of Art (Tuesday, Oct. 30) and BYU-Hawaii (Saturday, Nov. 3), who they tied earlier this season.
Women’s Volleyball
The Chaminade women’s volleyball team is 6-14 this year so far with a record of 2-3 on the road. However, this young team with only one senior has shown improvement from its 2-21 season last year with new head coach Kahala Kabalis.
Freshman Kim Spring from Bern, Switzerland, leads the Swords with 3.2 kills per set while Junior Daniella Montoya leads with 394 sets.
The Swords coming off five straight losses look to improve their record over their next five games against UH-Hilo (Saturday, Oct. 27), BYU-Hawaii (Saturday, Nov. 3), UH-Hilo (Monday, Nov. 5), CSU Bakersfield (Friday, Nov. 9) and HPU (Thursday, Nov. 15).
Women’s Soccer
The women’s soccer team is winless in its 13 games this year, but the Swords finish the season with three straight home games at St. Louis Field.
This young squad featuring no seniors hasn’t won a game since a 2-1 win over UH-Hilo on Sept. 15, 2011, and have scored only eight goals in 14 games this season.
The Swords are trying to avoid their first winless season since 2009 and will wrap up this campaign against Dominican (Friday, Oct. 26), Academy of Art (Tuesday, Oct. 30) and BYU-Hawaii (Saturday, Nov. 3).
Cross Country
Chaminade women’s cross-country runner Emily Oschner, a junior, took first place at the Chaminade Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 22. Finishing the 3-mile race in 17:03, she just edged out Polina Babkina of HPU, who finished second with a time of 17:04.
The men finished third overall with solid performances from sophomore Jorge Cisneros who led Chaminade, taking fifth place, and junior Emmanuel Jimenez finishing ninth in the 4.7-mile race.
Oschner didn’t have the same success though at the UH-Hilo Invitational, taking second place in losing to Babkina by 20 seconds. The women’s cross-country team took third place overall.
Cisneros tied for first place among the men in Hilo along with Spencer DeAvilla from BYU-Hawaii. The men’s team, however, finished fourth overall with three runners coming in last.
The cross-country team finishes its season with the Pac West Championships (Saturday, Oct. 27) and the NCAA DII Regionals (Saturday, Nov. 3).
