HONOLULU – The Chaminade University men's soccer team opened their 20th season as an intercollegiate program Sunday with an exhibition doubleheader against Whitworth University at Saint Louis Field.
Junior college transfer
Vlad Tomutiu (Belmont, Calif./Cañada College/Carlmont HS) scored twice to help the Silverswords forge a 2-2 draw in the first game.
Owen Caba (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) assisted on both goals with
Kayden Medeiros (Pukalani, Maui, Hawai'i/Western Oregon Univ./Kamehameha-Maui HS) also assisting on the second CUH goal.
Caba lofted an arcing pass downfield where Tomutiu beat a defender for the game's opening goal in the 14th minute. Whitworth tied it four minutes later where it remained knotted until the 62nd minute as Medeiros fired a long pass to Caba on the left side of the box who, in turn, flicked a perfect cross to Tomutiu, putting the team up, 2-1.
But the Pirates got the equalizer in the 72nd minute where the score stayed deadlocked at 2 until the final horn.
Playing with modified rules in the second game which included 35-minute halves and unlimited substitutions, Lucas Diaz accounted for both scores in the Pirates' 2-1 win.
Flyn Brown (Salida, Colo./SIU Edwardsville/Rock Canyon HS) had the Silverwords' goal.
Both results and statistics do not count towards regular season totals for both squads.
The game was also a welcome back home for Whitworth head coach Kevin Moon, a Saint Louis School graduate who briefly attended Chaminade in the mid-1980s while playing for the men's soccer club team.
The exhibition games gave both teams an extended look at their personnel. Chaminade used three goalkeepers in the opening game who each got at least 27 minutes of work.
Jonah Valmonte (Poolesville, Md./Robert Morris University/Poolesville HS) got the start with
Kili Chappell (Wailuku, Maui, Hawai'i/Stanislaus State/Baldwin HS) succeeding him in the 30th minute.
Alex Hume (Woodinville, Wash./Woodinville) played the final 27 minutes.
The Silverswords begin the regular season action on Thursday, Sept. 11 when they face Cal Poly Humboldt at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex auxiliary field. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m.
