The 2024 season could be viewed as yet another successful season for the Chaminade University women's soccer team. Although they didn't match their previous two years with seven wins, they still were victorious six times which equated to their fifth straight winning season including the spring 2021 non-championship season.
The Silverswords had their customary strong defensive mindset during the year, holding opponents to just 18 goals during the season, an average of 1.13, tied for the sixth lowest in the Pacific West Conference.
After racing out to four straight wins to open the conference season, the 'Swords had an attention-grabbing draw in their road opener at fifth-ranked Concordia University Irvine which put them at 4-0-1. Unfortunately, the rest of the road trip wasn't as successful with a tie and two losses.
A win over Fresno Pacific in their return home on Oct. 30 put them back into contention for one of the four berths in the inaugural PacWest championship tournament but a draw to Hawai'i Pacific would nix those plans. However, they still finished in the upper half of the conference standings, coming in sixth with 18 points.
Still, Chaminade, under the direction of 12th-year head coach
Michelle Richardson, continues to show the rest of the PacWest contenders that they are on the verge of kicking down the door as one of the conference contenders.
Senior midfielder
Gracie Knowd (Ramona, Calif./New Mexico State/Ramona HS) had a memorable final year at Chaminade, scoring four goals with an assist for a team-leading nine points. Those efforts landed her on the All-PacWest second team.
Haley Mo'okini (San Gabriel, Calif./Gabrielino) added to the 'Swords' arsenal of attackers with two goals. With 10 scores, the junior is one of just four Silverswords with double-digit career in goals and just two away from moving into third all-time.
Kenna Kiefer (Vail, Ariz./Cienega) and
Clara Slate-Liu (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada/Ecolè Alpha Secondary) both had a goal and two assists while playing over 1,000 minutes this season.
In defending the goal, the Silverswords always had that constant goalkeeper who tended to be a multiple-year starter. Richardson had just three regular starters since taking over in 2013 but 2024 was a little different with two goalkeepers making multiple starts for the first time.
And at the end of the year,
Jordhan Kieres (Lakewood, Ohio/Bellermine Univ./Lakewood HS), who had patiently waited for two years – one as a redshirt, another as a reserve – got the call with five starts including the final four matches in her final season. She would tally back-to-back clean sheets against Fresno Pacific and HPU, earning her PacWest Defender of the Week honors on Nov. 4.
The Silverswords bid aloha to five seniors including
Lindsey Wilson (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani), whose 31 wins while wearing a Chaminade uniform is the most ever for a single player in program history. Along with Knowd and Kieres,
Delaney Buntin (Vail, Ariz./Pima CC/Cienega HS) and
Savannah Breeze Miranda (Aiea, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Aiea) also wrapped up their careers.
