Rochester Hills, Mich. -- A new card-accumulation rule sent Aquinas on the road without head coach Luke Ruff and one of its regular starters, but it did not leave the Saints without their composure, focus or finishing touch. After patiently working through a one-goal opening half, the Maroon and White erupted for six goals over the final 45 minutes to overwhelm Rochester Christian on Wednesday afternoon.
Aquinas 7, Rochester Christian 0
The Saints established control immediately, earning a corner kick in the second minute before Adam Flanders struck the post at 3:41. Emmanuel Bedolla forced Rochester Christian goalkeeper Michele Tafani into a save at 9:13, and the Warriors committed a foul moments later to give AQ a penalty kick. Fikret Hasovic calmly converted from the spot at 9:17 to put the Saints in front.
Dario Cela answered Rochester Christian's best immediate response by stopping Carlos Cebollero's shot just nine seconds after the opening goal. Aquinas continued generating opportunities through Bedolla, Trae Collins, Carter Hagan, Evan Goodfellow and Hasovic, but Tafani made seven first-half saves to keep the Warriors within one. The Saints carried a 15-2 advantage in shots into halftime despite leading only 1-0.
Aquinas' persistence was rewarded early in the second half. Flanders delivered the setup to Bedolla for a goal at 55:25, and Jackson Rittner assisted Hagan at 60:44 to stretch the advantage to 3-0. Joseph Farhat joined the scoring at 73:38 before Hasovic struck again at 79:53.
The Saints continued pressing rather than settling for the comfortable advantage. Maurice Chandler Jr. finished Flanders' second assist of the match at 81:43, and Hasovic completed his hat trick at 84:59 off a feed from Ismael Gutierrez. Aquinas scored its final four goals in a span of 11 minutes and 21 seconds, including three over the final 10:07.
Hasovic led the attack with three goals on nine shots, placing five attempts on frame. Bedolla finished with a goal and four shots on goal, while Hagan, Farhat and Chandler each added a goal. Flanders supplied two assists, with Rittner and Gutierrez also collecting helpers.
Cela made four saves to secure the clean sheet as the Saints limited Rochester Christian to five total shots. Aquinas finished with commanding advantages in shots, 31-5, and shots on goal, 17-4, while earning seven corner kicks.
Four yellow cards were issued during the match. Collins received Aquinas' first caution at 38:06, while Hagan and Goodfellow were shown yellow cards at 77:06 and 78:37, respectively. Rochester Christian's Andrija Mitkovic received the Warriors' lone caution at 61:00. Suffice to say, the Saints will continue to work on avoiding the cards.
The victory moved the Saints to 4-4 overall and 2-0 in the WHAC, while Rochester Christian fell to 1-4-1 overall and 0-1-1 in conference play.
Saints Snapshots
- Second-Half Surge: Aquinas scored six times after halftime, turning a 1-0 match into a decisive conference victory.
- Hat Trick Hasovic: Fikret Hasovic accounted for three of the Saints' seven goals, including the opening penalty kick.
- Five Saints Find the Net: Hasovic, Bedolla, Hagan, Farhat and Chandler all scored for the Maroon and White.
- Flanders Facilitates: Adam Flanders assisted on goals by Bedolla and Chandler after nearly opening the scoring himself with an early shot off the post.
- Cela Slams the Door: Dario Cela stopped all four shots he faced to preserve the Saints' shutout.
- Perfect WHAC Start: Aquinas improved to 2-0 in conference play and has outscored its first two WHAC opponents 9-0.
Coach's Comments
New for the 2026 season, yellow cards issued to bench personnel are charged toward the head coach's accumulation total. That rule resulted in Ruff serving a one-match suspension Wednesday, but the Aquinas head coach still had plenty to say about discipline and his team's performance.
"We have to understand the importance of controlling our emotions, whether we are on the field, on the bench or part of the coaching staff," Ruff said. "A player or coach who is unavailable cannot help us win, and that makes discipline and accountability more important than ever. We have to learn from it because every person in our program matters."
"I was proud of how our staff and players handled the circumstances tonight," Ruff added. "We stayed patient when their goalkeeper kept the game close in the first half, continued creating chances and then became much more clinical after halftime. Seven goals from five different players and another clean sheet show what this group is capable of when we stay connected and play for each other."
Up Next
The Aquinas men's soccer team returns to the pitch Saturday with a short trip to Calvin University for a non-conference match-up against the Knights. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Visit AQSaints.com for live statistics, streaming links and complete post-game coverage of Aquinas men's soccer and all other Saints sports.
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