Columbia, Mo. — Sweet Home Alabama, the Saints are marching on.
The No. 13-ranked Aquinas women's soccer team is headed back to Orange Beach, Ala., after upsetting No. 7-ranked Central Methodist, 2-1 in overtime, in the Second Round of the NAIA National Tournament.
AQ junior forward
Sydney Shenk scored in the 100th minute, with 28 seconds left in the first overtime, to give the Saints the decisive 2-1 advantage on a freezing night at Battle High School in Columbia, Mo.
With the win, the Saints (20-2-1) avenged a pair of losses against the Eagles (19-3-1) — a 3-1 loss earlier this season and a 5-1 postseason loss in 2019. And, more importantly, gifted their first-year head coach
James DeCosemo a huge win on his birthday. They sang accordingly after the match.
"It doesn't get any better," DeCosemo said. "I'm very happy with this."
The below average temperatures couldn't cool off the Saints' 17-game winning streak.
"I think it was a good thing for us," DeCosemo said about the cold weather. "I think we were stronger mentally. You have to prepare for that sort of stuff and I think it all worked in our favor."
Central Methodist got the first scoring chance of the match on a long-range attempt from Alicia Zamora that was pushed aside by AQ freshman goalkeeper
Kayla Shuk.
The Saints quickly countered the other way two minutes later with a two-on-one breakaway. Shenk, coming off a two-goal performance in the 3-1 win over Jamestown in the first round, dribbled in close and tried to get the ball onto her left foot to shoot across the goal. The CMU goalie, Max De Armas Colombo, rushed forward, cut off the angle and prevented the Saints from going ahead in the 10th minute.
The Eagles thought they had the first goal in the 15th minute when they poked the ball away from Shuk after a save. The head referee waved off the goal, saying Shuk had maintained and was still controlling the possession of the ball when the Eagles tried to steal a goal.
Shenk, finding open space in the final third again, lashed a shot wide left in the 23rd minute.
Both teams had their moments to break the stalemate in the first half, but Aquinas arguably had more quality looks once they weathered Central Methodist's early push out of the gates.
In the 29th minute, AQ leading goal scorer
Hannah Crum made herself known by picking up a yellow card before nearly scoring on a half-volley that needed a great save from De Armas Colombo to keep the game level. On the ensuing corner kick, Crum almost curled the ball in at the back post.
AQ was given a second yellow card in the 33rd minute to its other forward, Shenk, after an aggressive chase down of the ball forced her into a collision with De Armas Colombo.
Saints sophomore forward
Maeva Lichtensteiger clipped the post in the 34th minute before realizing she was called offside by a tight margin.
A third attacking player was shown a yellow card in the 40th minute when CMU's Maja Henriksen knocked over an AQ defender right in front of the referee.
At the halftime whistle, Aquinas had outshot Central Methodist 5-2 with both teams putting two shots on target.
The Saints turned to Crum to get on the scoreboard first in the 54th minute. Her natural goal scoring instinct took over as she saw the ball sailing toward the back post. She sprinted full speed and saw a couple of defenders and the goalkeeper fail to clear the cross. The ball found Crum, who put her foot on it and rippled the back of the net, igniting an enthusiastic Saints' goal celebration.
"When we woke up this morning," Crum said that's when the Saints realized they were going to win.
AQ's confidence didn't falter when Central Methodist tied the game with 11:15 remaining in regulation. Marcella Helena picked up her 17th goal of the season with assists coming from Celine Witt and Roneisha Frank.
The final 10 minutes came and went, overtime was needed.
Aquinas dominated the first overtime and went ahead again on its fourth shot of the extra period.
"The ball got sent into the box and got bobbled around," goal scorer Shenk said. "I took a touch inside and hit it. I didn't even know where it was going to go, and it ended up in the back of the net."
It was Shenk's 15th goal of the season, eighth point in two NAIA Tournament postseason games, and her second game-winning goal of the NAIA Tournament for her NAIA-leading 11th GWG this year.
Central Methodist pushed for the equalizer to force penalties in the second overtime, but Aquinas held its ground and pushed the Eagles back time and time again.
When the clock struck zero, Aquinas rushed the field in jubilation.
The Saints have reached the NAIA Tournament Final Site for a second straight season. Aquinas has to wait and see when and who they will play next as the 10 teams remaining have to be re-seeded.
UPDATE: Aquinas will be the No. 8-seeded team at the NAIA Tournament Final Site and will play No. 9-seeded, No. 15-ranked Westmont (Calif.) in the opening round on Tuesday (Nov. 29) at 2 p.m. EST. The winner on that match advances to play top-seeded, No. 1-ranked Keiser (Fla.) on Thursday (Dec. 1) at 2 p.m. EST.
