Grand Rapids, Mich. — Second-half heroics produced a memorable Aquinas men's soccer home opener win over Saint Xavier, 3-1, Wednesday night (Aug. 31) at the AQ Athletic Field. Junior forward Ricardo Rittersberger scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the 69th minute to move Aquinas to 2-1-0 overall on the young season. His first goal of the year was book-ended by a pair of goals from junior midfielder Theo Maye. 

Lurking at the right place at the right time, Maye scored the opening goal three minutes before halftime. Rittersberger unleashed a shot at Cougars goalkeeper Joel Estrada that was too powerful for the sophomore keeper to handle. Maye rushed in to bury the rebound to give the Saints a 1-0 lead going to the locker room.

Saint Xavier (1-3-0) fought back with their own rebound goal in the 59th minute by Dorian Mahone. Sophomore midfielder Jaedan Aguilera connected on the initial shot to get credit for the assist.

As the intensity picked up in the second half, Aquinas buckled down and scored twice to secure the win. First, sophomore defender Joe Lockey caught the Cougars defense off guard with a long driven pass into Rittersberger, who calmly protected the ball and finished into the net. Maye then added the insurance goal in the 83rd minute after a couple of crafty passes unlocked him behind the Saint Xavier's back line. Maye beat Estrada one-on-one for his team-leading third goal of the season.

It was the Saints first win over the Cougars since 2017, giving fourth-year head coach Luke Ruff his first win against Saint Xavier. They were 0-2-1 in the previous three meetings in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

Aquinas outshot Saint Xavier 18-13 on Wednesday, but the Cougars had two more shots on target, 9-7.

Saints senior goalie Antonio Strassioto made eight saves with a handful of them being flashy diving stops.

Five yellow cards (three Aquinas, two Saint Xavier) were shown in the match with 28 combined fouls.

Aquinas took eight corner kicks in the first half, and finished with six more than the Cougars (9-6).

Next up, the Saints welcome the Marian (Ind.) Knights to the AQ Athletic Field on Saturday, September 3, with an afternoon kickoff set for 3 p.m. The two teams last played to a 1-1 tie after two scoreless overtime periods last season in Indianapolis.