Aquinas Repeats as Women's Soccer Tournament Champs
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - (TOURNAMENT PAGE) - A goal in each half propelled Aquinas to its second consecutive Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Women's Soccer Tournament title. The top-seeded Saints bested second-seeded Madonna 2-0 at the Aquinas College Athletic Field for the program's fourth overall tournament championship.
Both Aquinas(18-2-1), as the WHAC regular season, and Madonna (15-5-1), as the WHAC tournament runner-up, will receive automatic bids into the NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship Opening Round.
Aquinas opened the match with a quick-paced offensive plan, attemting six shots in the first three-and-a-half minutes. The push paid off in the 19th minute when Saints keeper Kayla Shuk booted a loose ball in the box to Hannah Crum, who then passed to Sydney Shenk who was streaking to toward the goal. Shenk put the ball past Crusader goalie Brooke Bruletti for the match's first score.
The Aquinas defense held Madonna to just three shots in the first 45 minutes with Shuk saving two and the third going off mark to keep a 1-0 lead. Bruletti made three saves in the first half, including back-to-back saves in the 10 minutes to keep Madonna within striking distance.
Five minutes into the second half, Maeva Lichtensteiger scored for a 2-0 Saints lead when she gathered a ball that bounced off a Madonna defender at the top of the 18-yard box and snuck it in on Bruletti. The Aquinas line held Madonna to seven shots in the second half and Shuk came up with a pair of huge saves in the latter part of the half to secure the win.
Stat Leaders
Goals: Shenk, Lichtensteiger 1 (AQ)
Asssists: Shuk, Crum 1 (AQ)
Saves: Bruletti 5 (MU); Shuk 4 (AQ)
All-Time Conference Tournament Champions
1998 (1) Siena Heights
1999 unknown
2000 (1) Madonna
2001 (1) Madonna
2002 (3) Indiana Tech
2003 (1) Madonna
2004 (2) Cornerstone
2005 (1) Madonna
2006 (3) Siena Heights
2007 (1) Aquinas
2008 (2) Siena Heights
2009 (1) Siena Heights
2010 (1) Cornerstone
2011 (2) Siena Heights
2012 (1) Davenport
2013 (1) Davenport
2014 (1) UNOH
2015 (1) UNOH
2016 (2) UNOH
2017 (3) Siena Heights
2018 (2) Aquinas
2019 (1) UNOH
2020 (3) Madonna
2021 (1) Aquinas
2022 (1) Aquinas