Story by Mark Musgrave III, Sports Editor

Your Aquinas Saints are rolling into Alabama!

Battling through below-freezing temperatures, women’s soccer stayed rather warm and humbled in a double overtime thriller versus Central Methodist of Fayette, Missouri. Final score — Aquinas 2, Central Methodist 1. Goals were scored by senior Hannah Crum in regulation and junior forward Sydney Shenk in OT. 

Hannah and Sydney lead the team in goals this season. Both have received a WHAC Player of The Week award this season, and Crum broke the career goal record for the program. Both are key contributors to this team’s success.

Call it a redemption game because if you don’t remember, Central Methodist beat Aquinas by a score of 3-1 in August. In order to face Central Methodist this postseason, Aquinas had to face Jamestown, who they had previously beaten in Missouri already as their first game of the regular season. These Saints are disciplined to win when it matters.

Freshman goalkeeper Kayla Shuk has been outstanding this year as the starting goalie for AQ. She had 38 saves and only 0.54 goals allowed on average with 84 percent of shots saved. This is all during the regular season. Expect her to continue as a starter next game following a stellar performance over this weekend. 

This is head coach James Decosemo’s first year for the women’s team. He was formerly an assistant coach for the men’s team here at AQ. He’s continuing the winning tradition in this program with a 20-2-1 overall record, equivalent to a .891 win percentage. With 11 seniors and two grad students, it will be exciting to see what he will do with this program. 

It’s hard to believe that this is the first article on Women’s Soccer in nearly two months. Throughout all of this team’s success, including continuous ranks in the national poll, yet another WHAC Championship, multiple shutouts, undefeated at home, and an undefeated record in conference, there is so much else left unsaid. 

You can watch AQ Women’s Soccer compete live on the Aquinas Athletic Website under the “Watch AQ Sports Network” tab. Only 10 teams remain in all of the NAIA. Next game, Aquinas faces the 15th-ranked Westmont Warriors of Santa Barbara, California. Kickoff will be Nov. 28 @ 2:00 PM, the Tuesday following Thanksgiving break. 

With gameday coming closer and closer, it begs the question: What are we doing as athletes, students, coaches, or professors to support our Women’s Soccer team and help bring home a national title?