The #17 Aquinas women's soccer team dropped a heart-breaking 2-1 final to visiting Madonna in the WHAC Championship on Saturday night (Apr. 10) in rainy conditions at the AQ Athletic Field. Aquinas scored the opening goal in the first half before the Crusaders tied the game late in regulation and won the championship with a golden goal two minutes into overtime.

It was a matchup of the #1 (Aquinas) and #3 (Madonna) seeds, competing for the WHAC Tournament title for the second time in three seasons. AQ won the 2018 tournament title on its home field by a 3-0 score over the Crusaders, but Madonna evened the score with its win on Saturday night.

With the result, the regular season champion Saints fall to 13-2. Aquinas had won 11 straight games before falling to Madonna, which improves to 9-4 on the year.

The Saints netted the opening goal in the 12th minute. Ariana Garcia took a corner kick at the 11:11 mark and the ball was knocked out of the box. Breanna Probst came in and fired a shot that deflected off a Madonna defender and into the top right corner of the net for her second goal of the year.

Play was even for the remaining 30-plus minutes of the first half, as Madonna held a 7-6 edge in shots, while Aquinas was in front on corners, 5-3.

The rain continued for the rest of the night and Madonna began to take more command in the middle portion of the second half, setting up solid scoring chances. One of those opportunities finally worked, as the Crusaders tallied the game-tying goal at the 72:31 mark, with Abby Werthman scoring after an initial MU shot was blocked. Werthman put it in net to notch the title game at 1-1 in the 73rd minute.

Neither team had many chances during the remaining 17 minutes and the game went to overtime. AQ had the first scoring opportunity in the extra session, but could not convert. Madonna went back down the field and played a cross from the left side into the box. The ball was deflected back towards Madonna's Megan Verant, who was running down the middle of the field. She looped the ball over the head of Aquinas keeper Braeleigh McCoy and into the top right corner of the net for the stunning victory exactly two minutes into overtime.

Play was incredibly even over the 92 minutes of competition. Each team took 17 shots, with Madonna holding an 8-6 edge in shots on goal. The Crusaders led 7-5 in corners, while AQ held a 6-5 edge in saves. There were 15 fouls called; eight on Aquinas, seven on Madonna.

Hannah Crum attempted three of AQ's six shots on goal, while Garcia, Filippa Struxsjo, and Hannah Bowling each totaled two shots. McCoy made six saves for the Saints in net.

Aquinas will learn its NAIA Tournament opponent, date, and location information in the coming days.