Grand Rapids, Mich. – After receiving votes in the national coaches poll earlier today (Oct. 9), the Saints returned to their home pitch to take on Lawrence Tech tonight. It was a close contest between the two teams, but a late rally from Aquinas put the hosts in the lead and continued its winning streak to five. AQ scored two goals in the last 15 minutes of the game to secure the 3-2 victory.
The result improves Aquinas to 9-3 this season with a 5-2 conference record.
(RV) Aquinas 3, Lawrence Tech 2
The first half began as a defensive battle as neither side managed a shot on target until the 16th minute. The back-and-forth nature of the half continued until AQ was awarded a free kick in the 34th minute.
Yussef Hakmaoui sent in the ball and found Clemitson on the receiving end, who put the ball away for the first foal of the contest.
However, that did was short lived as Lawrence Tech found some offensive pressure of its own right before half and tied the contest at 1-1 in the 44th minute.
The action kicked into second gear after halftime. LTU made back-to-back saves to keep Hakmaoui and Rittersberger out of the net. Lawrence Tech then went on a counter attack following an Aquinas corner and found the back of the net to take a 2-1 lead. AQ marched back down the field an Hakmaoui put a shot off the crossbar. Just 12 seconds later,
Tevan Jones put his header off the crossbar to maintain the one-goal LTU lead.
Roughly five minutes later, the Lawrence Tech keeper found himself way out of the net and made an overzealous tackle on
Ricardo Rittersberger, resulting in a red card for the Blue Devils. Down a man, LTU quickly found itself on the back foot. AQ applied plenty of pressure and finally found the equalizer in the 75th minute. Hakmaoui sent a shot in, but the shot was parried away by the new LTU keeper.
Jasper Schinkel found himself on the receiving end of that rebound to easily slot the ball into the back of the net.
The Blue Devils were looking to hold on for the one-point draw, but AQ continued to hold possession. In the 84th minute,
Fikret Hasovic crossed the ball in and found Rittersberger on the receiving end who put an impressive header on target to take the lead.
Despite being down a player, Lawrence Tech had some fight at the end of the contest.
Peyton Huffman made a strong save in the 89th minute to keep AQ in the lead. Then, with just seconds left, an LTU cross managed to beat Huffman, leading to an LTU shot past Huffman. However,
Josh Freeman-Wright was there on the line to clear the ball out of the net, securing AQ's 3-2 victory.
By the Numbers
- There were an incredible 40 shots split between the two teams, with LTU providing a majority of those in the first half and Aquinas in the second.
- AQ had seven shots on target to LTU's six.
- Both teams had three corners and four saves.
- Rittersberger extended his goal streak to five consecutive games.
- Peyton Huffman improved to a career record of 5-0.
Up Next
AQ has a bit of time to rest before its next contest. AQ will head to the road to take on UM-Dearborn next Wednesday (Oct. 16) with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff.
