Grand Rapids, Mich. — The Aquinas women's soccer team clinched its third straight WHAC Regular Season Championship on Wednesday night (Oct. 26) with one conference game to spare. The No. 15-ranked Saints (14-2-1, 10-0 WHAC) shutout Lawrence Tech 4-0 to capture its sixth WHAC regular-season title in program history (2022, 2021, 2020, 2011, 2007, 1996).

After second-place Madonna won earlier on Wednesday against Indiana Tech, AQ knew they needed three points that evening to secure the title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming WHAC Tournament.  Aquinas moved to 30 points with the home win, Madonna (on 27 points) can't surpass the Saints on Saturday (Oct. 29) in the regular-season finale because AQ holds the tiebreaker over Madonna since they beat them 5-1 earlier in the season.

A hat-trick performance from the all-time leading goal scorer at Aquinas, senior forward Hannah Crum, allowed the Saints to pull away from the Blue Devils on Wednesday after AQ sophomore forward Maeva Lichtensteiger scored the opening goal in the 11th minute. Sydney Shenk crossed the ball in from the wing and found Lichtensteiger flashing across the goal for an easy tap-in finish.

The Saints' second goal looked very similar with Macy Hollingsworth swing in a cross that Crum ran through for her first goal of the game in the 25th minute. Aquinas took a 2-0 lead going into halftime. 

Crum was far from finished. She uncorked two long-range goals in the second half to finish off Lawrence Tech. The first came off a free kick in the 68th minute. Hollingsworth tapped the ball first to get it rolling before Crum drilled a shot from outside the box that skimmed off the bottom of the crossbar before going in.

With less than four minutes remaining, Crum notched her eighth career hat trick with another rocket from roughly 25 yards out on the left side of the pitch. It was her team-leading 11th goal of the season and the 67th goal in her AQ career.

Saints freshman goalie Kayla Shuk made one save for her 10th shutout of the season. AQ outshot Lawrence Tech 33-2 (17-1 shots on target). Aquinas also had 11 corner kicks while the Blue Devils had none.

Most of the pressure is now off heading into Senior Day on Saturday (Oct. 29) against Indiana Tech. That said, the red-hot Saints — riding a 11-game win streak — can still wrap up a undefeated, perfect conference regular season for a second time in the last three season with a win over the Warriors. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.