The #12 Aquinas women's soccer team, the #1 seed in the WHAC Tournament, defeated the #8 seed Indiana Tech on Wednesday evening (Nov. 3) at the AQ Athletic Field. The Saints advance to the WHAC Semifinals after taking down the Warriors by a 3-1 score with goals from three different players.
Aquinas improves its overall record to 17-1-1 record, which is one win away from tying the most wins in program history at 18 that was accomplished in 2019.
The first half was very stagnant as neither team maintained possession for very long to create offensive opportunities. That was until Aquinas attempted a corner kick with less than two minutes remaining until halftime. Kicking from left to right,
Laia Cunill put a shot on net from the corner kick that glanced off the goalkeepers glove and into the net. Cunill's sixth goal of the season gave the Saints a very important goal heading into halftime that got the offense going.
That momentum carried over into the second half with
Merin McDermott scoring her ninth goal of the season and eventual game winner in the 54th minute. A yellow card by the Warriors set up a free kick chance from outside the box on the right side. After the ball was placed into the box,
Ariana Garcia slid a pass over to McDermott and her shot was true to give the Saints a two-goal lead. Aquinas got an insurance goal in the 67th minute as Garcia rifled a shot from the top right corner of the box to the top left corner of the net for her seventh goal of the season. The shot had such pace on it that the goalkeeper did not have time to react to it and stood as it flew by. Indiana Tech broke up the shutout with eight seconds remaining as Olivia Sherman scored the goal to make the final score read 3-1.
Tairyn Webb (13-1-0) made three saves in the win including one in the second half that had her running to the top of the box and making a sliding kick save on a breakaway opportunity. Michaela Bitle made 12 saves in the loss for Indiana Tech after giving up three goals.
The Saints took 25 total shots with 15 being on net as the Warriors ended with nine total shots and six on frame. AQ attempted four corner kicks compared to IIT's three, while Aquinas committed 14 fouls to Indiana Tech's 10.
The Saints will next host Siena Heights in the WHAC Semifinals on Saturday (Nov. 6) at the AQ Athletic Field, with kick-off scheduled for 2:00 PM.
