The Aquinas women's soccer team, the #2 seed in the Marion bracket of the NAIA National Tournament, shutout the #1 seed and host Indiana Wesleyan on Saturday evening (Nov. 20), in Marion, Indiana. The #12 Saints are now one of 10 teams remaining after advancing to the NAIA National Tournament final site in Orange Beach, Alabama by claiming the 2-0 win over the #7 Wildcats at the IWU Soccer Field.

Aquinas improves its record to 21-1-1 on the season, which continues to add on to the program record for most wins in a single season. AQ now has a 4-3 record in the NAIA National Tournament all-time with all four of those wins coming in the last three seasons.

The Saints were set up for a great opportunity early in the first half as in the fifth minute and converted. Hannah Crum received a pass outside the box on the left side and buried the shot over the goalkeeper in the upper right corner of the net. Crum, who is the two-time WHAC Offensive Player of the Year, scored her team-leading 16th goal of the season and is one away from tying her career-high at 17, which she had in 2020. The Aquinas defense continued its dominance from the second half of the Hope International game by holding IWU to three total shots in the first 45 minutes. The Saints took the 1-0 lead into the locker room and were only one half away from advancing to the final site.

Moving quickly again in the second half, Aquinas scored an insurance goal just two minutes after the half began. Ariana Garcia was able to turn defense into offense as she stole the ball and ripped a shot right past the goalkeeper for the 2-0 advantage in the 47th minute. This was Garcia's eighth goal of the season to go along with her team-leading 13 assists. The Wildcats turned up the pressure after the goal by attempting a total of 11 shots in the second half. Braeleigh McCoy was up to the task by making all the saves needed to secure the shutout. The defensive effort kept the high scoring IWU offense off the board thanks to defenders Breanna Probst, Jenna Konwerski, Avery Tack, and Ingrid Hentemann with the help of defensive midfielder Caitlin Rebera as well. All five Saints played all 90 minutes to contain the Wildcat attack.

McCoy (6-0-1) made a total of five saves in the win and recorded her second shutout of the season. Hope Stacker for Indiana Wesleyan took the loss after allowing two goals and making one save.

Aquinas took eight total shots with three of them being on net as Indiana Wesleyan shot the ball a total of 14 times with five being on net. AQ did not get to attempt a corner kick as IWU attempted six, while the Wildcats collected nine fouls compared to the Saints' 17.

Aquinas now advances to the NAIA National Tournament final site in Orange Beach, Alabama as one of 10 NAIA teams remaining. The Saints will now wait to see who they will face first as the final site will run from Nov. 30-Dec. 6.