The Aquinas College women's soccer team opened postseason play tonight with a 4-1 win over Concordia in the WHAC Quarterfinals at the AQ Athletic Field. The win improves the Saints record to 16-2-1 on the season, with their only losses to the #1 and #3 ranked teams in the NAIA. The 16th win on the season equals last season's mark and is tied for the second-most in school history.
Aquinas took control of the game early, scoring just 11 minutes into the match to take a 1-0 lead.
Filippa Struxsjo, recently named WHAC Newcomer of the Year, crossed the ball with her left to the back post, where she found
Jenna Smith. Smith did the rest, beating the Cardinal keeper and giving the Saints the lead. Aquinas would take the 1-0 lead into the halftime break, outshooting their guests 9-4 in the first half.
Concordia made things interesting midway through the second-half, taking advantage of a defensive lapse by the Saints to tie the game, 1-1. It was the first goal conceded by AQ in over four and a half games, ending a scoreless streak of 427 minutes by the Saints' defense. However, it would be a short-lived tie, as just 13 seconds later the Saints retook the lead, again with
Jenna Smith finding the back of the net.
Hannah Crum charged down the left side of the field and fired a shot at the Cardinal keeper who deflected it, but Smith, the senior midfielder, was there to calmly collect the rebound and put it home for a 2-1 lead.
From there it was all Saints, scoring 20 minutes later off of a corner-kick to lead 3-1. This time it was the freshman forward from New Zealand, Danni Mckenzie, who found the back of the net. Mckenzie would not be done, as minutes later she took a long pass from
Jenna Konwerski and tapped one past the keeper for her second goal of the game and sixth of the season.
When the final whistle blew, the Saints had outshot their guests 23-8 on the day and earned nine corners to the Cardinals' one, but most importantly, had a 4-1 advantage on the scoreboard.
Braeleigh McCoy was once again solid in net, making three saves and deflecting a pair of dangerous crosses by the Cardinals' attack.
Aquinas advances to the WHAC Semi-Finals this Saturday, where as the #2 seed they will host #6 Lawrence Tech, who upset #3 seed Cornerstone. Game time is set for 4:00 pm.
