Grand Rapids, Mich. — The Aquinas men's soccer team knew what was at stake. Two games left in the regular season and a win Wednesday night (Oct. 25) over Lawrence Tech would have put them in the driver's seat to win the program's first WHAC regular season championship since 2010.
The Blue Devils, however, played the spoiler on a drizzling, overcast evening at the AQ Athletic Field. After all the drama subsided, the scoreboard read 2-2 after 90 minutes of play. A hard-fought tie.
Not exactly the result Aquinas (11-2-3, 7-1-2 WHAC) was looking for in a game that could have gone either way.
Lawrence Tech (11-4-2, 5-3-2 WHAC) scored first in the 17th minute off a direct free kick. Skander Larfaoui hooked in a shot from distance that clipped the right post and went in for his 12th goal of the season.
The Saints were upset at the decision to grant the free kick after a previous foul wasn't called at the other end of the field. Frustrations continued to show on multiple occasions as AQ tried to find the equalizer before halftime.
It never came. The Blue Devils held on to be up 1-0 at the break with the shots even at 11 apiece for both teams.
Aquinas found another gear in the second half, pouring the pressure on until LTU finally snapped.
AQ's leading goal scorer,
Ricardo Rittersberger, popped up again with a massive goal.
Joshua Clemitson started the attacking move by dribbling the ball from AQ's defensive third to pass midfield before slipping in Rittersberger. With a dink up and over the goalkeeper, the score was level again after the Saints had trailed for 39 minutes.
Nine minutes later, the Saints were celebrating again. AQ built from the back this time as well and exploited the right side of the Blue Devils defense with pure speed.
Joe Lockey played the ball up to
Jasper Schinkel on the wing, who then picked out a perfect through ball to Rittersberger.
Rittersberger poked the ball into a wide-open goal for his 16th goal this season.
However, the famous soccer saying "a team is most vulnerable right after they score" was proven true less than a minute later. Anything Rittersberger could do, Larfaoui could do as well. Alex Fernandez picked out Larfaoui for the 2-2 equalizer just 42 seconds after Aquinas had scored.
Back to square one and the intensity rose again.
After Aquinas had a second goal wiped off because of a close offside, the moment the Saints were waiting for finally came. Rittersberger was foul inside the 18-yard box and the head official pointed to the spot.
With 6:53 on the clock,
Andrea Ghiggini stepped up to take the penalty kick and drilled a well-placed shot toward the bottom left corner. LTU goalkeeper Kieran Malachino dove the correct way and made the improbable save.
The Blue Devils hit the crossbar a minute later to encapsulate what turned into a wild night which eventually ended 2-2 despite Aquinas outshooting LTU, 29-15 (19-6 shots on target). Malachino ended up making 17 saves.
Elsewhere in the conference on Wednesday, (RV) Indiana Tech came from behind to defeat Madonna 2-1 with goals in the 82nd and 86th minutes. That result gives the Warriors (24 points) the top spot in the WHAC with one game remaining. Aquinas is right behind them with 23 points with Madonna sitting in third with 20 points.
AQ travels to Fort Wayne, Ind., this Saturday (Oct. 28) to face Indiana Tech to decide who will win the conference regular season title. The Saints need a win, while the Warriors can claim the crown with a win or a tie. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. from the Warrior Athletic Field.
