Box Score Upland, IN – The Aquinas College women's soccer team went toe-to-toe with 17th-ranked Taylor University Saturday afternoon before a late foul call and ensuing penalty kick proved to be the difference in a 1-0 road loss. The Saints dropped their second straight match as their offensive woes continued.
Taylor 1, Aquinas 0
Growing pains.
It's something that the Saints are experiencing at the start of the 2026 season and the result was another narrow non-conference defeat.
But despite suffering its third loss in its first four matches, Aquinas (1-3) has been competitive.
Two losses have been by a single goal, and the two-goal margin against Bethel Tuesday night occurred in a two-minute span in the last 10 minutes.
Aquinas' defense was up to the task again against Taylor (4-0-1), which entered Saturday unbeaten and ranked in the top 20.
The Saints and goalkeeper Claire Fogarty kept the Trojans at bay, denying every scoring attempt and keeping it deadlocked at 0-0 until the final minutes.
After giving up the midfield and allowing a through ball into the box, Aquinas committed a foul that resulted in a penalty kick for Taylor.
In the 86th minute, Leah McQuade buried a shot into the right corner for the lone goal of the match.
Unfortunately, the Saints couldn't find the equalizer in the final three minutes of play.
Aquinas, which hasn't found the back of the net in two straight matches, again struggled to generate any offense and didn't record a shot on goal despite two quality chances in the 59th minute.
The Saints got unlucky as back-to-back shots from Khloe Koelling and Reegyn Cady both hit the crossbar and prevented Aquinas from taking the lead.
Aquinas finished with only four shots as Joy Reams led the team with two attempts.
Inside the Numbers
- Aquinas goalkeeper Claire Fogarty registered six saves in playing all 90 minutes.
- The Saints were outshot 13-4 and didn't record a shot on goal.
- Aquinas has been shut out three times in its first four matches but has only allowed six total goals. Four of those goals have come in the final 10 minutes of play.
Coach's Comments
Despite the disappointing outcome, Head Coach Mario Zuniga-Gil was proud of his team's play defensively against a nationally ranked and unbeaten team: "I thought defensively we were so engaged, and the defensive effort that we put forth collectively with all 11 players on the field was unbelievable. The first half we started slow but got better. I'm pretty upset about the outcome, and I know they are, too, but I saw the girls have a positive outlook after things went down after the game. They are proud of themselves, and I think this is going to set us up for success. In the long term, the growth and improvement that we're seeing will be more important than the fact that we lost in the closing minutes."
Up Next
The Saints return to the pitch Friday night when they host Schoolcraft College at 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.
