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The #12 Aquinas women's soccer team have moved on to play #7 Indiana Wesleyan in the NAIA National Tournament Marion bracket final on Saturday (Nov. 20), with kick-off scheduled for 5:00 PM. The top two seeds of the Marion bracket will square off with both teams winning their opening round games on Thursday (Nov. 18). The game will take place on the Wildcats home turf of the IWU Soccer Field. The Saints have now won an NAIA Tournament game for the third consecutive season and have a 3-3 record all-time in the tournament.
Aquinas came out victorious in its first game of the NAIA National Tournament, defeating Hope International (Calif.) 2-1 in its 20th win of the season.
Hannah Crum scored the first goal for the Saints after 30 minutes of scoreless play to put AQ up 1-0. HIU quickly responded to tie the game up at 1-1 heading into halftime. AQ scored 10 minutes after the break, with
Merin McDermott coming through for her fifth game winner of the season. The defense stepped up in the final 45 minutes by not allowing the Royals to attempt a single shot.
Braeleigh McCoy returned after a lengthy injury and made two saves on three opportunities.
The Saints now have three players that have scored double-digit goals this season in Crum (15),
Sydney Shenk (12), and McDermott (10).
Ariana Garcia (13) and Crum (11) also have more than 10 assists this season as McDermott is now solely leading the way with five game-winning goals.
Aquinas is scoring 3.68 goals per game for the 2021 season, while holding opponents to 0.64 goals per game. AQ is currently on a 16-game unbeaten streak, including winning 10 games in a row. The Saints have also been good in the close games, going 9-0 in games that are decided by one goal. Aquinas will face a top-10 opponent in the NAIA Coaches' Top-25 Poll for the second time this season after previously playing then-#7 Marian on Sept. 18.
The #7 Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats won its first game of the NAIA National Tournament over Saint Ambrose (Iowa), also by a 2-1 score and in similar fashion to the AQ win. IWU jumped on top first as Sarah Foulk scored her 15th goal of the season in the 24th minute. The Fighting Bees answered in the 55th minute as Taylor DeSplinter tied the game up at 1-1. The Wildcats had the last laugh with Jackie Norris scoring her 18th goal of the season in the 75th minute to seal the 2-1 win.
Indiana Wesleyan is currently 17-3 on the year, finishing second in a star-studed Crossroads League that sports four top-25 teams. The Wildcats finished the regular season 14-3 (8-1 Crossroads) with losses to then-#5 Tennessee Southern, then-#6 Southeastern, and then-#4 Spring Arbor. They did pick up top-25 wins over then-#15 Grace and then #6-Marian. IWU went on the claim the Crossroads League Tournament Championship defeating Taylor, Marian, and Spring Arbor along the way.
Crossroads League Newcomer of the Year, Norris (18), and Foulk (15) are the leading goal scorers for Indiana Wesleyan as Sydney Brown also leads the team with 16 assists. In net, the Wildcats are led by Hope Stacker who is 15-3 on the season and has collected 77 saves so far. Stacker has a 0.97 goals-against average, a .805 save percentage, and have five shutouts to date. IWU is led by head coach Daniel Seiffert, who is 56-16-6 since joining the Wildcats in 2018, including a Crossroads League Regular Season Championship and a trip to the NAIA Elite Eight in 2019.
