KANEOHE, O'ahu – For years, Hawai'i Pacific University has been the preverbal thorn in the sides of Chaminade University men's soccer.
That changed Saturday afternoon as the Silverswords scored one of their biggest wins of the season in a 1-0 victory at HPU's Atherton Field, ending a 7-year drought against their cross-town rivals.
The 'Swords, who hadn't beat the Sharks since 2007, ended a 19-game winless streak against HPU, having gone 0-17-2 in that span. The win also gave the Silverswords their fourth victory of the season, breaking the previous school record of 3 set in 2009. Chaminade is now 4-10 overall and 3-7 in the Pacific West Conference.
Nicolas Ferro tacked on the game's only goal, which came on a penalty kick in the 19
th minute. It was his team-leading fourth goal of the year.
Rene Mejia stopped five shots as he recorded his first win and shutout of the season (1-3). Alexander Berntsen took the loss for HPU.
The win also snapped a seven-game losing streak for Chaminade. The loss dropped the Sharks to 8-8-1 overall and 6-5 in the conference.
HPU outshot CUH, 14-9 in the contest and took seven second-half shots. The 'Swords survived several shots down the stretch as they made three saves in the final 45 minutes, including a final one from Mejia with 1:34 left to play.
"I'm unbelievably proud of the boys performance today," said Silverswords head coach
Zach Kingsley, who at this time last year was an assistant with HPU's women's squad. "We went out with a game plan and executed it to a tee. We've shown all year we can compete with the best in this league. Today, we showed that we can beat them."
"We overcame a major hurdle today – closing out a game," he continued, referencing to gut-wrenching losses earlier this season in which the 'Swords let leads evaporate late in games. "This has been our Achilles heel all year, in those high pressure moments at the end of the game. Today, we showed we can handle that pressure and win. I'm unbelievably proud."
The 'Swords continue the season on Thursday when the travel to Hawai'i-Hilo. The game is a make-up of the Oct. 18 postponement due to Hurricane Ana.
