HONOLULU – The Chaminade University men's soccer team came out on the short end of a 2-1 decision to Fresno Pacific in the team's final home match of the 2017 season amid humid conditions at Saint Louis Field on Thursday.
Makoto Shoji (Okinawa, Japan/Rio Hondo College), one of six seniors, scored a goal in his final game in a Silverswords uniform.
Chaminade fell to 3-9-2 overall and 2-8-2 in the Pacific West Conference.
The Sunbirds improved to 8-9 and 7-5 in the PacWest with Fellipe Souza accounting for both FPU goals.
Chaminade's goal came in the 13
th minute when
Isaiah Kuloloia (Mililani, Hawai'i/Mililani) lobbed a perfect pass over the Sunbirds' defense to Shoji who had gained separation of a FPU defender. Shoji then chipped the ball over Sunbirds' goalie Patrick Timmer and into the net to put the 'Swords ahead, 1-0. The 'Swords had an opportunity in the 59
th minute to go up two scores but
Curtis Coburn's (Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach) header hit the crossbar.
A foul inside the Chaminade box resulted in a successful penalty kick for Souza in the 64
th minute to square the match. Souza then put FPU ahead in the 86
th minute when he gathered a loose ball and fired the eventual game-winner.
Chaminade had one last look at the net but a shot by
Avinash Singh (Pukalani, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Maui) was wide of the mark in the 88
th minute.
Following the match, seniors Shoji, Singh,
Tyler Braunthal (Pearl City, Hawai'i/Mililani),
Bernd Buescherhoff (Steinfield, Germany/Gymnasium Lohne),
Jaewon Huh (Aiea, Hawai'i/Aiea) and Rueben Taks (Vught, The Netherlands/UNC Pembroke) were honored in their final home matches.
Coburn attempted a team-high four shots while Buescherhoff made five saves in his final appearance at home.
Patrick Timmer got the win for FPU, making three stops.
The Silverswords will conclude the season Saturday at Hawai'i Hilo.
