Chaminade University Women's Soccer

Richardson as the head coach of the Chaminade University women's soccer team. In just two seasons, she became the winningest coach in program history, accomplishing the feat with a 1-0 win at Academy of Art on October 25, 2014. Richardson guided Chaminade to a 3-11-1 mark in 2014, setting a program record for wins in a season. All three victories came on the continental United States. In the previous eight years of the program's existance, the Silverswords had never won on the Mainland. She also coached junior forward Twyla Hamasaki to All-Pacific West Conference Second Team honors, as Hamasaki became the first Chaminade women's soccer player in seven years to earn all-conference kudos. She also helped bring a defensive mindset to the program. The 2014 team surrendered 24 goals to the opposition, another program record. Richardson began building the team's foundation during her first year as head coach in 2013. That season saw the team snap a 43-match losing streak spanning two years with a 1-0 win over Holy Names on October 31. Despite that match being the lone win of the season, the 'Swords were highly competitive, dropping nine contests decided by two goals or less including a pair in overtime. The team had only five such games the previous season. They also surrendered 44 goals which, at the time, was the program record. The 'Swords had allowed 62 the season before her arrival. Prior to Chaminade, Richardson was the head coach at Kalani High School in Honolulu. In her six seasons there, she guided the Falcons to two O'ahu Interscholastic Association (OIA) East titles as well as an OIA Red (Division I) runner-up and Hawai'i High School Athletic Associtation Division I third-place finishes. During her tenure, she also helped place numerous players into NCAA Division I and II schools on soccer scholarships. Before moving to O'ahu, Richardson coached in her native San Francisco, guiding the Bay Area Oaks club soccer team as well as coaching at the Olympic Development Program (ODP) Region IV. As well as coaching in the Bay Area, she also played professionally with the San Francisco Nighthawks of the Women's Professional Soccer League (WPSL) and before that, played professionally overseas for Fortuna in Hjorring, Denmark. Richardson played collegiately at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, California, lettering all four years and serving as team captain during her senior season. During her playing days with the Gaels, she also was the head coach at Campolindo High School in Moraga. She earned her Bachelor's degree at SMC with a double major in Psychology and Biology. She later earned her Master's in Biology from San Francisco State University.  

The 2026 season marks Conor Whittaker's 14th year as assistant coach for the Chaminade women's soccer team as the goalkeeper coach. The 2024 Silverswords posted a fifth straight winning season with a 6-5-5 mark overall and a 5-3-3 record in the Pacific West Conference, good for a sixth-place finish. The team saw two draws against nationally ranked opponents including one against No. 10 Colorado Mesa in their season opener and another against fifth-ranked Concordia, marking the second straight non-loss to the perennial PacWest power. Despite having their first goalkeeper since 2018 not named Naomi Takata, the 'Swords surrendered just 18 goals. In 2023, the Silverswords posted not only posted seven wins for the third consecutive year but their fourth straight winning season, a feat never before accomplished in the history of the program. Their milestone season included an upset over No. 5 Concordia Irvine, the program's first-ever win against a nationally-ranked opponent, a draw against another ranked foe in Hawai'i Hilo, and a 2-1 win over Point Loma, which would later capture the Division II national championship. Their 20 goals was a new single season record while Haley Mo'okini, Delaney Buntin and Takata earned All-PacWest honors, the latter setting numerous goalkeeping records. In 2022, he helped the 'Swords to their second straight championship season -- and third overall -- with a 7-6-3 overall mark and 4-3-3 in the Pacific West Conference. The team's win total tied the record set in 2021 while their 15 points were the most in program history and their fifth-place finish in the conference standings were their highest ever. Three 'Swords were recognized on the All-PacWest Teams as a result. Despite the hardships created by the COVID-19 pandemic which forced the 2020 playing year to be moved from the traditional fall season to the spring of 2021, the 'Swords were able to capture the Hawai'i Pod title, the program's first. Their 1-0-3 record enabled them to win the PacWest Hawai'i Pod title and were the only Hawai'i squad to win a decision that season (Hawai'i Hilo finished 0-0-4 while Hawai'i Pacific was 0-1-3). That season, forward Randi Fontes made history by becoming the first Chaminade soccer player -- men's and women's -- to be named the PacWest Player of the Year after leading the conference in goals (5) and goals per game (1.25). In addition to Fontes' honor, transfer Hoku Schatz was named the PacWest Newcomer of the Year and Michelle Richardson was the Coach of the Year, giving Chaminade three of the conference's five major postseason awards. The successes of the spring carried over into the fall 2021 season where the 'Swords finished 7-6 overall and 5-5 in the PacWest, breaking program records for victories in both categories. Their seven wins marked the first-ever winning championship season in program history. Under Whittaker's guidance, the Silverswords have seen vast improvement on the defensive end. The 2019 season saw them set defensive records by allowing 21 goals, a 1.50 average. Freshman goalkeeper Naomi Takata posted single-season records in goals against average (1.43) and shutouts (4). In 2018, the team had an outstanding defensive season, allowing just 225 opponent shots with 85 saves. The 1.66 goals against average was, at the time, third-lowest in program history. The 2017 squad completed the most successful back-to-back seasons in program history with eight total victories. The Silverswords shattered several single-season offensive records including points (52), goals (19) and assists (14) while helping junior forward Caitlin Tatemichi earn All-Pacific West Conference Second Team honors after her record-setting year in points (20) and goals (9). Meanwhile in front of the net, junior goalkeeper Brandee Lane earned her seventh career win to become the program's all-time leader in that category. In 2016, he had a hand in guiding the 'Swords to a program-record four wins, three on the road. The team demonstrated drastic improvement as their attack led to 23 points and nine goals, both second-most in a single-season at the time. But they also improved defensively by setting a record for goals allowed per match at 1.56. The squad also celebrated one of the biggest wins in program history on Oct. 27, scoring a 1-0 upset over Point Loma which, at the time, was the PacWest's first-place team. In 2014, Whittaker helped guide the 'Swords to a three-win season, setting a then-program record for wins with all three victories coming on the continental United States. In the team's previous eight years of existence, the program had never experienced a win on the Mainland. Through his assistance, Whittaker helped dramatically improve the team's defense in 2014 as the 'Swords allowed 24 goals, a program-record, and a 1.60 goal allowed average. The 2013 team -- his first year as an assistant -- had surrendered 44, which at the time, was the program's mark. The year prior to his arrival, the team allowed 62 goals. He was an assistant soccer coach to current Silverswords head coach Michelle Richardson at Kalani High School, his alma mater, during her six-year tenure, helping to guide the Falcons to back-to-back O`ahu Interscholastic Association East Division titles and a third-place finish at the HHSAA Division I State Tournament in 2010. Whittaker also coached track and cross country at Kalani for seven years. Whittaker graduated from the University of Hawai`i-Manoa with a bachelor's degree in Information and Technology Management. He resides in Honolulu.