The Aquinas men's soccer team dropped the season opener against St. Xavier by a score of 3-1 on Saturday afternoon (Aug. 28). The non-conference contest was played at Bruce R. Deaton Memorial Field in Chicago, Illinois.

The Cougars jump on the Saints 2-0 before the first 45 minutes were played and AQ could not complete the comeback before the final whistle sounded.

The Cougars scored in the 18th and 37th minute of the first half with the goals being credited to Ricardo Avalos and Angel Lopez. The Saints totaled five shots in the first half with three of them being on goal, but did not have any luck finding the back of the net. SXU had a total of seven shots with the two that were on target being put away for goals. 

The St. Xavier lead grew to three goals at the 71st minute when Jaeden Aguilera connected on a free kick. Theo Maye broke the shutout for AQ, scoring unassisted in the 73rd minute.

Antonio Strassioto took the loss in the net for the Saints and now stands with a 0-1 record. Issac Carvajal started the game at goalkeeper for the Cougars, improving his record to 1-0 with Joel Estrada and Andres Zamora also seeing time.

The Saints outshot St. Xavier 17-10 for the game and also held a 5-3 advantage for shots on net. AQ led in in corner kicks 7-2, while committing 14 fouls to the Cougars' 12.

The defeat drops Aquinas' record to 0-1, while St. Xavier improves its record to 1-1 after dropping its first game to Rio Grande. 

Aquinas will be back in action on Wednesday, Sept. 8 for its home opener against Spring Arbor at the AQ Athletic Field with kick-off scheduled for 7:00 PM.