Top Seeds Prevail in Men's Soccer Quarterfinals
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - (TOURNAMENT PAGE) - The top four seeds all were victorious in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Men's Soccer Tournament.
Top-seeded Indiana Tech shutout No. 8 Cornerstone 5-0 to maintain home pitch advantage as the Warriors will host fourth-seeded Aquinas after the Saints blanked No. 5 Madonna 2-0. Second-seeded UNOH needed extra time to slip by No. 7 Lourdes 2-1 with a goal seven minutes into overtime and will host No. 3 Lawrence Tech, who won 5-1 against sixth-seeded UM-Dearborn.
The semifinals are set for Wednesday, Nov. 10 at the higher seeds.
Quarterfinals - Saturday, Nov. 6
Will Harris put the first point on the board with a goal in the fifth minute on a pass from Pep Casas. Five minutes later, Brendan Sidaway scored on an assist from Jonas Kahlman for a 2-0 Indiana Tech lead. Tech's defense doubled down and Cornerstone didn't get its first shot off until the 18thi minute. Maxwell Amoako made it 3-0 with Sidaway assisting to end the first half. After a Golden Eagle sustitute, Jaime Rodriguez scored from Angel de Jorge and Ryan Steele for a 4-0 lead. Malte Dennert scored the final goal on a pass from Ryan Steele in the 78th minute.
Stat Leaders
Goals: Harris, Sidaway Amoako, Dennert, Rodriguez 1 (IT)
Saves: Roman 5 (CU); Claderon 3, Salvado 1 (IT)
#4 Aquinas (6-2-2/7-5-3) def. #5 Madonna (4-2-4/7-4-5), 2-0
The first half featured back-and-forth play until Aquinas capitalized on a free kick in the 32nd minute. Theo Maye bent his shot over the wall into the top left corner for the only score of the half and the eventual game winner. Te defensive effort was stepped up the second half, but AQ got a two-on-one break and Ricardo Rittersberger set up Mason Sills for the insurance goal.
Stat Leaders
Goals: Maye, Sills 1 (AQ)
Assists: Rittersbergr 1 (AQ)
Saves: Ireland 2 (AQ); Ouendeno 2 (MU)
#3 Lawrence Tech (7-2-1/12-5-1) def. #6 UM-Dearborn (4-5-1/5-11-1), 5-1
LTU scored less than a minute into the match and never looked back. Alvaro Merino scored the first two goals for the Blue Devils for a 2-0 lead at the end of the first. Ty Cerget's shot in the 58th minute of play was initially blocked, but then took a bounce that went over the extended hands of the keep for the third score. Xavier Walser answered for UM-Dearborn, scoring in the 80th minute, but Gonzalo Sanz headed a ball off the heel of miling to put LTU back up by three at 4-1. Alex Fernandez chipped a pass from Matthew Sherman in the last minute of play for the final score.
Stat Leaders
Goals: Miling 2, Merino, Cerget, Fernandez 1 (LTU); Walser 1 (UMD)
Assists: Sanz, Still, Sherman, Cerget, Laufaoui 1 (LTU); Soltis 1 (UMD)
Saves: Kollovozi 4 (UMD); Matovski 2 (LTU)
#2 UNOH (7-1-2/9-5-3) def. #7 Lourdes (4-5-1/9-8-1), 2-1 (OT)
Lourdes struck first when Savio Adams bounced in a free kick at the 1:56 mark that sood as the only goal in the first half. Mamadou Diallo slipped aheader past the keeper off a corner from Cameron Power to tie the match in the 72nd minute. Both teams were able to get a couple shots on goal off only to have the keepers defend their nets and force overtime. After a couple of corner kicks, Gonzalo La Chica tried to head one in, but Igor Silva made a huge save. Falk Jorch also failed to head a ball into the net as the Gray Wolves defense turned it back. After a foul, La Chica set up Limamu Mohammed tfor the golden goal at the 97:08 mark.
Stat Leaders
Goals: Mohammed, Diallo 1 (UNOH); Adams 1 (LU)
Assists: Power, La Chica 1 (UNOH)
Saves: Silva 6 (LU); Lima 4 (UNOH)
Semifinals - Wednesday, Nov. 10
#4 Aquinas (7-5-3) at #1 Indiana Tech (15-1-2)
#3 Lawrence Tech (12-5-1) at #2 UNOH (9-5-3)