Men’s Soccer Battles UH-Hilo to Draw

HONOLULU – The Chaminade University men's soccer team ended the home portion of the 2015 season battling Hawai'i-Hilo to a 1-1 double-overtime draw Thursday at Saint Louis Field.
 
Nicolas Ferro, playing in his final home game, converted a penalty kick just under 11 minutes in the contest to put the Silverswords (1-13-1 overall, 1-10-1 Pacific West Conference) up. It was Ferro's second goal of the year and the eighth of his career.
 
The score held up until the 68^th minute when UH-Hilo's Trenton Hooper took the ball up the field, got past two defenders and tapped the ball in past charging Chaminade goalkeeper Rene Mejia to square the game.
 
The Vulcans (4-11-2, 3-7-2) had a golden opportunity to take the lead after a foul was called inside the Chaminade box in the 71^st minute but UHH's Jacob Laporte's penalty shot hit of the crossbar, keeping the game even.
 
Three minutes later, the 'Swords got the ball downfield but Ferro's shot hit the right post. Chaminade had another good look in the 77^th minute but Guilherme Aires' boot just sailed high over the cross bar.
 
Both teams had opportunities in both first and second overtimes but the best look was from the Silverswords' Ryan Arkelian who fired a shot just wide of the net with 57 seconds left to play.
 
Chaminade attempted a season-high 21 shots as did UH-Hilo. Lukas Pousset attempted a team-high seven for the Silverswords, two on goal while Ferro also got two SOGs. The 'Swords owned the edge in corner kicks 9-2. James Yamane had a team-high four shots attempted for the Vulcans.
 
Mejia (0-8-1) made seven saves on the afternoon while his counterpart Cassidy Dixon (3-2-2) had four.
 
Chaminade senior Quan Ho came in late in the second half and logged 38 productive minutes, his most since playing 75 against Hawai'i Pacific on Oct. 17.
 
It was the first draw for the 'Swords since a 2-all deadlock against HPU on November 9, 2013.
 
The tie also secured a point for Chaminade in the First Annual PacWest Hawai'i Challenge.
 
In addition to Ferro, Pousset, Mejia and Ho, it was also the final home games for their fellow seniors Stiven Buritica, Manuel Ibarra, James Meaney, Giovanni Reader and Trevor Freeman.
 
The Silverswords will wrap up the season Saturday at BYU-Hawai'i.