Mishawaka, Ind. – For 80 minutes, the Aquinas College women's soccer team hung tough in its first road trip of the season. Unfortunately for the Saints, the final 10 minutes of Tuesday night's match proved to be their undoing. Host Bethel University scored twice in a two-minute span to send Aquinas to a disappointing 2-0 loss.
Bethel 2, Aquinas 0
On a hot and humid night, both defenses held firm throughout the first half and for a majority of the second half.
The Saints, playing on grass for the first time, had their chances to take the early lead in the first half.
However, a pair of shots by Reegyn Cady in the 22nd and 23rd minutes sailed wide, and a scoring opportunity from Reagan LaCross in the 18th minute was stopped by Bethel goalkeeper Isabella Ferreira.
Bethel began to pressure Aquinas goalkeeper Claire Fogarty midway throughout the second half, and the deadlock finally ended when the Pilots scored in the 80th and 81st minutes on goals from Kayden Firsdon and Pauline Vinciguerra to secure the win.
Cady led Aquinas with three shots for the match. LaCross and Khloe Koelling registered the other shots on goal.
Maeve Comfort, Savannah Reese, Bella Berry and Madeline Langlois also had shots for the Saints.
The Saints dropped to 1-2 on the season, while Bethel evened its record to 1-1.
Inside the Numbers
- Aquinas goalkeeper Claire Fogarty faced nine shots on goal and recorded seven saves while playing all 90 minutes in goal.
- The Saints were outshot 15-9 and had only three shots on goal.
- Corner Kicks: Aquinas (7), Saint Xavier (5)
Coach's Comments
Head Coach Mario Zuniga-Gil after the first road match of the season: "Overall, I thought both teams were close and it was a close game, but I feel like we had better chances in the first half and we didn't score and put them away. We ran out of gas at the end, and I think they had that extra energy from being at home on their field. They scored the first one and it led to the other one, and we can do better in a lot of areas."
Up Next
The Saints (1-2) will look to recover from their first road loss when they travel to Taylor University Labor Day weekend. They will play Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Upland, Ind.
Fans are encouraged to visit AQSaints.com throughout the season for live stats, stories and complete post-game coverage of Aquinas women's soccer and all other AQ Athletics programs.
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.
