Grand Rapids, Mich. — Once again, let the celebration commence. A goal in each half allowed the top-seeded Aquinas women's soccer team to lift more hardware by knocking off the No. 2-seeded Madonna Crusaders, 2-0, in the WHAC Tournament championship game.

With the victory, Aquinas has now won four WHAC Tournament titles in its program's history with three of them coming in the last five years (2022, 2021, 2018, 2007). It's also the third time the Saints have won the conference regular season and tournament title in the same year (2022, 2021, 2007).

For the more experienced players, beating Madonna for the championship was a little extra sweet as it displaced the heart-breaking memories of the Crusaders ousted the Saints 2-1 in overtime to claim the 2020-21 conference tournament title a year and a half ago on the AQ Athletic Field. 

No overtime was needed this year on a chilly Saturday afternoon (Nov. 12) in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The Saints (18-2-1) came out of the gates firing with six shot attempts in the first three minutes and 30 seconds. While only one of the shots had to be saved, AQ didn't wait around to exert its authority on the match early on.

That constant pressure eventually paid off in the 19th minute. After AQ freshman goalkeeper Kayla Shuk gathered a loose ball in the box, she quickly booted the ball up the field to senior forward Hannah Crum, who settled it down before picking out junior forward Sydney Shenk making a run toward the goal. Crum threaded the pass through and Shenk slotted the ball past Crusaders goalkeeper Brooke Bruletti in a one-on-one situation.

Crum picked up her fifth assist of the season, and Shuk earned the rare goalkeeper second assist for her first offensive point at Aquinas.

The Saints continued to pepper shots at Madonna's goal in the first half, but only four of AQ's 15 attempts ended up on target. The Crusaders were held to three shots in the first 45 minutes with Shuk having to make two saves.

Aquinas led 1-0 at halftime.

Five minutes into the second half, the Saints doubled its lead on Maeva Lichtensteiger's sixth goal of the season. The sophomore forward was at the right place to gather a bouncing ball off a Crusaders defender at the top of the 18-yard box. Without hesitation, Lichtensteiger uncorked a first-time, half-volley shot that Bruletti got a piece of it but the ball still made its way in.

The Saints packed up shop from that point on and limited Madonna to a couple of long-range efforts that Shuk had to tip over the crossbar to preserve her 13th shutout of the season. She made four saves altogether as Aquinas outshot Madonna 27-10 (7-4 shots on target) in the contest.

Shenk and Ariana Garcia led the Saints with five shots apiece. Aquinas also took six more corners (10-4) and committed seven more fouls (18-11) with Crum and Ingrid Hentemann picking up yellow cards in the second half.

AQ has now won 15 straight matches and is unbeaten in its last 22 home games at the AQ Athletic Field. That second streak will be continued into next season, as Saturday's contest marked the Saints last time playing at home this season. 

An awards ceremony was held after the title game to recognize various all-conference winners. Most notably, Crum won WHAC Offensive Player of the Year for a third consecutive season, first-year head coach James DeCosemo was named WHAC Coach of the Year and the Saints had six players named to the All-WHAC First Team. More information about AQ's conference award winners will be published on AQSaints.com later this evening. 

Both Aquinas, as the WHAC regular season and tournament champions, and Madonna (15-5-1), as the WHAC tournament runner-up, will receive automatic bids into the NAIA National Tournament.

The Saints are now waiting to see where they will be playing in the NAIA National Tournament with a selection show taking place Monday (Nov. 14) at noon. You can watch live on the Play NAIA Facebook page. Aquinas will be making their fifth straight nationals appearance.