Grand Rapids, Mich. -- It's crunch time. Win and move on; without a "W," there is no tomorrow for your season. Those were the stakes as Aquinas welcomed crosstown archrival Cornerstone for another throw-out-the-record-book meeting. Sprinkle in the WHAC Tournament, and you couldn't cut the tension with a chainsaw.
Aquinas 3, Cornerstone 1
For 45 minutes on Halloween afternoon, the scariest thing at AQ Athletic Field was the possibility that one missed opportunity could come back to haunt the Saints. By the final whistle, Fikret Hasovic had supplied three reasons why Aquinas would be playing another Saturday. He delivered a second-half hat trick, turning a scoreless quarterfinal into a 3-1 victory and sending third-seeded AQ to the WHAC semifinals. Getting there, however, required considerably more work than the final margin might suggest.
Aquinas knocked on the door early, with Chase Jacobs Gries putting a header on target at 5:18 before Emmanuel Bedolla rattled the post just 12 seconds later. Hasovic followed with a shot wide right at 5:44, giving the Saints three attempts in a 26-second stretch but nothing to show on the scoreboard. At the other end, the AQ defense blocked three Cornerstone attempts before Dario Cela made his first save at 20:42. Evan Goodfellow sent an attempt wide left shortly afterward, and Cela added another stop at 26:47 as the rivals continued trading reasons for their fans to hold their breath.
Marcos Real and Hasovic handled AQ's first-half corner deliveries, helping the Saints build a 5-1 advantage in corners without finding the breakthrough. Carter Hagan and Bedolla gave way to Jareth Balcaraz-Alvarado and Jackson Rittner during the half as Coach Luke Ruff worked through his options in a match that refused to loosen its grip. The halftime scoreboard remained stubbornly blank, with Cornerstone holding a 5-4 edge in shots and neither side offering much room to get comfortable. Adam Flanders had an attempt blocked early in the second half, Goodfellow forced a save at 47:40, and Cela answered with a stop on a Cornerstone header at 50:38.
Then, at 54:49, Hasovic finally put Aquinas in front and gave the home crowd the release it had been waiting for. That celebration barely had time to settle before Cornerstone answered 35 seconds later, wiping away the advantage and returning the afternoon to square one. It was the kind of exchange that makes rivalry soccer entertaining for everyone except the people trying to coach it. Hasovic supplied the Saints' response at 65:11, scoring his second goal to restore the lead and hand AQ another chance to make it stick.
This time, the Maroon and White protected their advantage, with Cela making a save at 70:31 and Flanders testing the Cornerstone goalkeeper at 72:59. Hasovic nearly completed his hat trick at 76:21, only to find the post instead of the insurance goal the Saints were chasing. Ruff continued turning to his bench, with Brian Mosqueda, Logan McClure and Owen Dibling among those called upon as the match moved into its closing stages. With the lead still just one, Cela delivered another important save at 82:14 to keep the Saints in front.
Twenty-four seconds later, Hasovic stepped to the penalty spot and buried his third goal, finally giving Aquinas some breathing room with 7:22 remaining. Three goals, one postseason hat trick, and a Halloween afternoon the Cornerstone defense had seen quite enough of No. 10. Austin Tucker entered for Hasovic at 84:45, while the Saints saw Cornerstone's final three attempts miss the target and finished the job in front of 300 fans. The rivals ended with six shots on goal apiece, but AQ paired five Cela saves with three Hasovic finishes to make sure this chapter ended with another game on the calendar.
Aquinas improves to 10-6-2 overall, following a 7-1-2 WHAC regular season, while Cornerstone finishes its season 4-12-1 overall after going 4-5-1 in conference play.
Elsewhere in Saturday's quarterfinals, fifth-seeded Indiana Tech edged fourth-seeded Northwestern Ohio, 5-4, while second-seeded Madonna defeated seventh-seeded Cleary, 3-0. Top-seeded Lawrence Tech and eighth-seeded UM-Dearborn were scheduled to complete the quarterfinal round at 7 p.m., with that result pending at the time of this writing.
The November 7 semifinals will send No. 3 Aquinas to No. 2 Madonna, while No. 5 Indiana Tech will face the Lawrence Tech–UM-Dearborn winner. Lawrence Tech would host the Warriors with a victory; an UM-Dearborn win would send the Wolverines to Indiana Tech. Both semifinal start times are to be announced.
Saints Snapshots
- Three goals. Another Saturday. Hasovic took ownership of the Saints' biggest offensive moments, scoring the opener, the game-winner and the penalty kick that finally created separation. All three came after halftime, when every opportunity carried the weight of keeping the season alive.
- Thirty-five seconds didn't define the afternoon. Cornerstone erased AQ's first lead almost immediately, handing the Saints a postseason test of their composure. Aquinas answered with the final two goals, turning a potentially deflating exchange into a footnote in a winning afternoon.
- The saves behind the celebration. Cela finished with five stops, including one just 24 seconds before AQ's third goal. Before the Saints could enjoy their cushion, their goalkeeper made sure they still had a lead to build upon.
- Ninety minutes of staying power. Flanders, Maurice Chandler Jr., Joseph Farhat, Jacobs Gries and Miguel Gonzalez joined Cela in playing the entire match. In a rivalry quarterfinal featuring 31 combined fouls, that group helped carry AQ through the tense stretches between its scoring celebrations.
- No costume required. The Saints looked like themselves when the afternoon demanded it most: an attack willing to keep pressing, a goalkeeper ready for the next test and a lineup that regrouped after its first lead disappeared in 35 seconds. On Halloween, AQ earned another week in the Maroon and White.
Coach's Comments
Win and advance, lose and your season is over: these games can be every bit as demanding on the coaches as they are on the players and fans. Ruff's Saints handled the afternoon's biggest momentum swing and earned another week together, along with a return trip to Madonna.
"Against a rival in a tournament game, you know there are going to be difficult moments, and I liked how our guys responded when they tied it so quickly," Ruff said. "We stayed with the game, kept working for the next opportunity and got some big finishes from Fikret. Dario made important saves, and we needed contributions throughout the lineup to get this one across the finish line. We're pleased to advance, but we know what's waiting for us at Madonna. We'll need that same composure and a complete effort to give ourselves a chance to keep going."
Up Next
Aquinas returns to Livonia, Michigan, on Saturday, November 7, for a WHAC semifinal rematch with Madonna. The teams played to a scoreless draw in the regular-season finale, but this time someone must advance to the championship match. Kickoff is to be announced.
The national tournament picture adds another layer to the stakes. Under the WHAC's automatic-bid allocation, a Saints semifinal victory combined with Lawrence Tech reaching the championship match would secure AQ an automatic berth to the NAIA National Tournament. If the championship opponent is Indiana Tech or UM-Dearborn, Aquinas would need to win the tournament to claim the tournament's automatic berth.
Keep checking AQSaints.com for updates, stories, features and statistics on Aquinas men's soccer and all Saints sports.
Happy Halloween!
It's a great day to be a Saint!
