Box Score Grand Rapids, Mich. – It took a while for the Aquinas College women's soccer to get the offense going Saturday afternoon. But once it did, it resulted in a big second half and a 5-0 home win over Defiance on Senior Day.
The Saints (6-3, 3-0) won their fifth match in a row and stayed perfect in the WHAC. They join Madonna and Lawrence Tech as the only remaining unbeaten teams in conference play.
Aquinas 5, Defiance 0
The Saints hadn't played a match in more than a week, and it showed in the first half against the last-place Yellow Jackets.
Although the energy and celebratory atmosphere of Senior Day was on full display before the match, Aquinas came out flat and stagnant.
They dominated possession for the majority of the first 45 minutes, but shots sailed high, off target. and in some instances, never taken.
The result was a disappointing 0-0 deadlock at the half.
And then there was the second half, which took on a completely different look as adjustments were made and goals became plentiful.
It took only 39 seconds to erase the frustrations of the first half.
Senior Aubrey Phenicie received a pass from sophomore Joy Reams in front of the net and booted it into the right corner for a 1-0 lead.
Less than 3 minutes later, junior Khloe Koelling scored her team-leading fourth goal of the season and the floodgates began opening.
After assisting on Koelling's tally, Reams decided to get one of her own and put away a shot in the box off a beautiful pass from Bella Teelander in the 51st minute to make it 3-0.
The Saints weren't done, as their scoring flurry continued.
Reegyn Cady found the back of the net in the 58th minute, and Ellie Lazowski tallied her first goal as a Saint in the 62nd minute.
The comfortable cushion allowed coach Mario Zuniga-Gil to get his bench some valuable playing time.
Sixteen substitutes got minutes in the decisive victory with seven of them recording a shot.
Inside the Numbers
Coach's Comments
Head Coach Mario Zuniga-Gil made a few adjustments at halftime and was thrilled to see them pay off in a five-goal outburst: "It was just about adjusting our composure and little details in the final third. We scored there just seconds into the second half and things went a lot easier from that point on. It was awesome just to have the opportunity to move people around and put people in different positions. We scored some really good goals and we had a few girls who played their first minutes with the first team today and that's always meaningful.
"We were able to honor our seniors, which really was the most important thing and what today was all about. We will take this and come here Monday ready to go because we have two really important games coming up."
Up Next
The Saints stay at home for another key WHAC match-up on Wednesday against UM-Dearborn. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 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.
