The women's soccer team advanced to the WHAC Championship game this afternoon by defeating Lawrence Tech 1-0 in the WHAC Semi-finals. It is the second-straight appearance for the Saints in the championship game, and they will look to defend their title from a year ago when they take on #1 seed UNOH next Saturday. The win improves the Saints' record to 17-2-1 on the season, tying the school record for most wins in a single season set in 1999 (17-3-1).

As expected, the two teams played a tough, physical soccer game. In total, 20 fouls were whistled and five yellow cards were issued. Despite the Saints dominating possession of the ball for most of the early part of the game, the score read 0-0 at the half with neither team threatening much in the first 45 minutes of play. The Saints came out hot to open the second-half, but despite a couple of key chances they were unable to break the deadlock. That was until Jenna Smith stepped up for a free kick in the 54th minute. The senior midfielder approached the ball on the goalie's right well outside of the box and delivered an absolute strike to the top corner at the back post to break the scoreless tie. Smith's fifth goal of the season gave the Saints a 1-0 lead and had them thinking title game.

The Saints would continue to give pressure but narrowly missed a few opportunities, including a shot that beat the Blue Devil keeper but hit the right post by Macy Hollingsworth. As the second-half wore on, the Blue Devils built up more and more pressure until they created a pair of tremendous chances that took extraordinary plays by the Saints to deny. Blue Devil forward Sydney McClay took a lead pass and beat the Saints defense, leaving her one on one with Saints' goalkeeper Braeleigh McCoy. The Saints' All-WHAC goalkeeper came up huge, denying McClay with a diving stop to maintain the one-goal margin. McCoy made another save just moments later while Lawrence Tech kept the pressure on. In all she made six stops on the night. 

But it would be the play of another Saints' defender that would be the play of the night and save the Saints' championship aspirations. In the 80th minute, once again McClay got behind the Saints defense and McCoy had to come well out of her box to make a play. While her initial attempt kept McClay from getting a shot off, it took her out of position. This allowed the Blue Devil forward to let loose a shot towards what looked like a wide open Saints' net. It was wide open until Aquinas senior defender Olivia Borgdorff hustled back into position and at the last moment got a boot on the the shot and cleared it before it crossed the goal line. Borgdorff's incredible effort kept the clean sheet and kept the Saints ahead. McCoy had to make a pair of late saves to keep the Blue Devils off the scoreboard, but the Saints were able to salt the game away and hold on for the victory.

The Saints will look to claim their second-straight WHAC Tournament Championship and third in history (2007), when they travel to Lima, Ohio next Saturday with a showdown with #1 seed and #3 ranked UNOH.