Box Score Southfield, Mich. – The Aquinas College women's soccer team was less than two minutes away from gaining sole possession of second place in the WHAC Wednesday night as it appeared a key road win was within reach. Unfortunately, a late goal by Lawrence Tech doused the Saints' hopes as they had to settle for a disappointing 1-1 draw.
Aquinas 1, Lawrence Tech 1
Another late untimely goal surrendered.
Another chance at an always important WHAC win spoiled.
It's a trend that has plagued the Saints at times this season and it happened again on Wednesday night in a showdown between two teams chasing first-place Madonna in the conference standings.
For the second match in a row, Aquinas opened the scoring and took the early lead.
In the 17th minute, following a corner kick, Katelynn Sterling floated a perfect ball into the box where Savannah Reese was there to head it in and stake the Saints to a 1-0 lead.
The score remained that way, in part to Claire Fogarty's steady play in the net and the backline, until 95 seconds remained.
Lawrence Tech's Presley Jones beat her defender on the wing and squeezed a shot in past Fogarty that found the left corner of the net for the equalizer.
Aquinas, however, had two more chances to win in the final minute, but Julia Grzadkowska's close-range shot was stopped, and Reegyn Cady's rebound went just wide.
Aquinas is now 7-3-2 overall and 4-0-2 in WHAC play, while the Blue Devils stand at 6-3-4 overall and an identical 4-0-2 record in the WHAC. Both teams have 14 points with three matches remaining.
Madonna sits atop the standings with 19 points and a 6-0-1 mark.
Inside the Numbers
- Aquinas goalkeeper Claire Fogarty was solid in the net as she faced eight shots on goal and stopped seven.
- The Saints managed only two shots on goal, one on the goal by Savannah Reese and the other by Raegan LaCross in the 9th minute.
- Aquinas had seven fouls, while the Blue Devils had six.
- The Saints still haven't lost a match since early September as they ran their unbeaten streak to eight.
Coach's Comments
Head coach Mario Zuniga-Gil wasn't thrilled with another tie but was proud of the overall effort: "We were just watching the goal back and it felt like it was the most unfortunate possible goal we could give up. But I was really proud of the team. We knew the toughest games in our conference were at the end and this was the first one. It definitely wasn't one of our cleanest games in terms of possession, but we found our moments to connect. I look at the whole season, and we've had some late goals that have cost us and we have to learn from it. We've done the work, and I'm not happy with the results the last two games, but I'm proud of the effort."
Up Next
The Saints return home for another important WHAC match on Saturday as they welcome UNOH, which currently sits two points behind Aquinas and Lawrence Tech in the conference standings. It will be the final regular-season home match. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. Be sure to visit AQSaints.com for live statistics and complete postgame coverage of Aquinas women's soccer and all other Saints sports.
NOTE: Dean Holzwarth, serving as the Senior AQSaints Athletics Reporter & Content Specialist for AQSaints.com, brings decades of journalistic precision and storytelling flair to the Saints' media efforts. He's covered high school sports for 11 years at Grand Rapids–based WOOD-TV, following a 16-year tenure in sports reporting with the Grand Rapids Press and MLive. He also writes monthly high school features for the MHSAA website. His deep experience in capturing the heartbeat of local athletics now fuels his engaging coverage of Aquinas College sports.
