The Aquinas men's soccer team gained its first win of the season over rival Cornerstone on Wednesday evening (Sept. 29). The WHAC conference matchup saw the Saints take a 1-0 lead into halftime and then used two more goals in the second half to complete the 3-0 shutout over the Golden Eagles at the AQ Athletic Field.
The win improved the Saints' record to 1-3-1 and began conference play 1-0-0, while the Golden Eagles' record drops to 1-7-1 and 0-2-0 in the WHAC.
The lone goal in the first half, and the eventual game winner, came off the head of
Andrea Ghiggini for his first goal of the season. In the fifth minute,
Theo Maye sent a free kick into the box, following a Cornerstone foul just outside the box, as Ghiggini won the race to the ball in the air by sending it past the goalkeeper as he flew by. The Golden Eagles did hold a 9-6 shot advantage after 45 minutes of play, but it was the Saints who were leading on the scoreboard 1-0.
Aquinas scored two more goals in the second half to put the game out of reach with both coming off the foot of
Jackson Moore for his first two goals of the season. In the 61st minute,
Baptiste Bissessur sent in a cross from the left side as the ball bounced off two different CU defenders and found Moore alone on the back post as he buried it into the net. The final goal came in the 71st minute after Maye sent a pass up to Moore on the right side of the box. Moore then deeked the defender, connected with the shot coming off the outside part of his right foot, and bending it back to glance off the left post and into the net.
Antonio Strassioto (1-3-1) gained his first shutout of the season by collecting four saves in the contest. Alan Roman took the loss for Cornerstone by making five saves and conceding three goals.
Aquinas outshot the Golden Eagles 22-11 over the course of the game, including holding an 8-4 shots on net advantage. AQ had four attempts at a corner kick with CU attempting two, while Aquinas committed 11 fouls to the Golden Eagles' 13.
Aquinas will continue WHAC play by traveling to Fort Wayne, Indiana to face Indiana Tech on Saturday (Oct. 2) at the Warrior Athletic Field, with kick-off scheduled for 12:00 PM.
