Grand Rapids, Mich. – The Aquinas College women's soccer team extended their season-high win streak to six with a 1-0 home victory over UM-Dearborn Wednesday night. The Saints remained perfect in the WHAC at 4-0 with only five matches remaining in the regular season.
Aquinas 1, UM-Dearborn 0
Sometimes just one goal is good enough to get the job done.
And that's all it took for the Saints to continue their winning ways in their chase for a WHAC championship.
Aquinas dominated in all phases but only mustered the single goal in the first half in part to the superb play of UM-Dearborn goalkeeper Julia Tasker, who registered 17 saves.
It wasn't for a lack of trying, though, as the Saints bombarded Tasker with 37 shots on the night.
Aquinas' lone tally came in the 9th minute as junior Reegyn Cady put away a shot into the right corner off an assist from senior Katelynn Sterling.
It was Cady's second goal in as many games and third on the season.
Despite the numerous scoring opportunities, the match never felt in doubt as the Saints dominated possession.
Defensively, the backline consisting of Sterling, Hadley Fox, Addyson Jacquemain and Tia Rita Daher, thwarted any scoring chances by the Wolverines (4-8-1, 3-3 WHAC).
The Saints, who started the season 1-3, improved to 7-3 overall.
Inside the Numbers
- The Saints peppered the goal early and often and registered 37 shots, including 18 on goal. The Wolverines were held to only three shots (two on goal) and none in the second half.
- Starting goalkeeper Claire Fogarty recorded two saves.
- Aquinas had a season-high 12 corner kicks, while UM-Dearborn had zero.
- Senior Savannah Reese led the Saints with three shots on goal as six different players had multiple shots on goal.
- Aquinas has not lost a match since Sept. 5 against Taylor and has allowed only two goals in its last four matches.
Coach's Comments
Head Coach Mario Zuniga-Gil was proud of his team's ability to possess consistently despite only scoring one goal. "We created a lot of chances today and we were exceptional in possession. The level of brilliance that we achieved today in possession was really good. We were confident, we were never really nervous, and we continued to dominate play.
"We've won six in a row and I'm really proud of that. I was telling the team that it is incredibly difficult at any level in college soccer to win six games in a row and we've done that. We go to Indiana Tech on Saturday, and we hope to take care of that one, too, and looking forward to playing some of those teams that are at the top of the table."
Up Next
The Saints hit the road on Saturday for another key WHAC contest at Indiana Tech. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 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.
