HONOLULU – The Chaminade University men's soccer team came as close as they ever got to getting their first win of the season on Thursday.
However, luck was not on their side during their 1-0 loss to Azusa Pacific at the Saint Louis Field pitch.
Chaminade fell to 0-6 on the season and 0-4 in the Pacific West Conference with their trend of one-goal defeats coming after multi-goal setbacks continued.
The Silverswords grinded throughout despite being heavily outshot by the visiting Cougars.
Jedidiah Griffin (Honolulu/Cal State Fullerton/Punahou School) came within inches of getting CUH on the board when his blast in the 31st minute hit the right post.
The 'Swords also came agonizingly close to a goal in the 81st minute when a header off a corner kick nearly went in the net but the ball was ruled to not have completely crossed the plane of the goal line.
The stalemate ended just four minutes later when a scrum inside the Chaminade box saw Luis Solis' score off Raul Lavado's crossing pass.
Chaminade attempted five shots while APU (3-5-1, 2-0 PacWest) took 18. Shots came via Griffin,
Kala'i Duncan (Kapolei, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama),
Owen Malone (Carlsbad, Calif./Univ. of Saint Katherine/Carlsbad HS),
Kayden Medeiros (Pukalani, Maui, Hawai'i/Western Oregon Univ./Kamehameha-Maui HS) and
Remo Merlo (Reno, Nev./Remo).
Jonah Valmonte (Poolesville, Md./Robert Morris University/Poolesville HS) made five saves for the 'Swords while his Cougars counterpart, Alexis Rodriguez, did not make any saves.
The meeting was the final encounter between the two programs as Azusa Pacific drops to NCAA Division III next season. In the 13 all-time meetings, the Cougars have 11 wins while Chaminade has salvaged two ties, coming in 2016 and 2017.
The Silverswords are back on the Saint Louis pitch Saturday when they host Biola at 2:30 p.m.
