Posted with permission, article and pictures, courtesy of Chaminade University
NAMPA, Idaho – The Chaminade University men’s soccer team opened the 2022 season Tuesday, falling to Northwest Nazarene, 3-1, at NNU Soccer Field.
Northwest Nazarene (3-1-1), an eight-win squad a year ago and picked to finish fourth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Preseason Poll, scored all three of its goals in the second half, spoiling the debut of Silverswords first-year head coach Joshua Woodard.
With 30 seconds remaining the first half, the Nighthawks had an opportunity on a header, which was headed towards the upper half of the goal. But Brandon Yasue (Honolulu/Kaiser) made a leaping save to prevent the potential first score.
In the second half, NNU caught a huge break in the 51st minute after Chaminade (0-1) was whistled for a foul inside the box. On the resulting penalty kick by Lorenzo Valentini, Yasue make the save at the lower-right corner but the ball caromed straight back to Valentini who chipped it in for the opening score.
The Nighthawks struck again just over a minute later when a perfectly placed centering pass off a corner kick was headed in by Sullivan Smith to give the hosts a two-score lead.
NNU added a third goal in the 86th minute.
The ‘Swords were held to just one shot, taken by freshman midfielder Owen Caba (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) in the first half. Defender Joseph Wren (Kapolei, O’ahu, Hawai’i/Utah Valley/Kapolei HS) was the lone Silversword to play all 90 minutes.
Yasue made eight saves in taking the loss. Sawyer Price earned the win for NNU, which took 13 shots in the match, 11 on-goal.
The Silverswords will remain in Nampa and face 14th-ranked West Texas A&M in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. local time, 12:30 p.m. in Hawai’i.
