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Aquinas College senior center back Ingrid Hentemann has helped anchor a stingy defense this season that had led to 18 wins, 13 shutouts, a 0.31 team goals-against-average entering the NAIA Sweet 16.
Undefeted, talented Saints record 13 shutouts, only given up six goals entering NAIA Sweet 16
BY DAN STICKRADT
WEB AND CONTENT EDITOR | DIRECTOR OF NEWS
Michigan Soccer Network | Premier Media Group | National Soccer Network and affiliates
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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – If defense really does win championships, then the Aquinas College women’s soccer team is trying to take it to another level.
The Saints have put forth one of the nation’s best defensive units in college soccer – at any level – and have put up some gaudy defensive numbers that most teams only dream about.
Aquinas, which is 18-0-1 this season, has posted 13 shutout in 19 games this season, and the team has allowed just six goals all season. Teamwise, the goals-against-average is a paltry 0.31 entering next Tuesday’s NAIA Round of 16 and no team has scored more than one goal on the Saints in a single game this season and only six teams have even found the back of the net against them.
In other words, the Saints defense is dominant this season and has been in every game.
“Not just our defense, but our whole team is very close and I think that has helped out defensively,” offered junior goalkeeper and third-year starter Kayla Shuk, who was an All-America Second Team choice last year by the NAIA. “We cover for each other very well. Our defenders know when to push up or when to stay back and not a lot gets through to me. It’s not like I’m making 20 saves to keep us in games. Our defense is very strong and very experienced.”
Shuk, a three-time All-WHAC First Team selection, has played every minute in goal, while seniors Ingrid Hentemann – the WHAC Defensive Player of the Year – and Avery Tack have been mainstays on the back line now for two seasons. This year, senior Bridget Sherman has stepped into a starting role this season at outside back, while seniors Jessica Graham (D/M) and Lauren Niblett (D/F) have also seen minutes in the rotation.
“Last year we rotated a few players at right (outside) back, but this year when we play a three-man (back line) its those three. When we move to four defenders then sometimes we’ll slide in another player off our bench like Jess (Graham) or Lauren (Niblett) or we have a few others that can play defense if needed.”
Juniors Addison Tack and Camille Berko, senior Brooklyn McCormick and freshman Norah Lutz are also listed as defenders on the roster but have not spent much time in the backline this season.
Hentemann, Avery Tack and Shuk were three of six Saints to earn All-WHAC First Team honors, as Aquinas College dominated those postseason lists. Sherman made the All-WHAC Second Team as a defender.
Aquinas finished 11-0-1 in WHAC play this season where the conference regular season champion Saints held a 67-3 scoring edge in conference play. In the only tie of the regular season, a 0-0 draw against Cornerstone University, the Saints were missing several key players out with injuries or were out resting and Cornerstone parked the bus along the back line to help stall the short-handed Saints.
Avery Tack, Aquinas College senior
Aquinas also won the conference tournament with a 2-1 victory over the University of Northwestern Ohio in a game that reached double overtime and a shootout to decide the winner. Shuk made three saves in the shootout where the Saints held a 3-2 advantage to push them to the WHAC tournament title. Defensively, the Saints did not allow too many quality chances in that contest – one of the team’s bread-and-butter traits all season long.
Aquinas’ well-balanced offense has seen 15 different players register points and eight different players have registered 10 or more points. A total of 15 different players have scored between one and 17 goals this season and the Saints are deep, rotating a ton of players into the midfield and up top at forward. That offensive balance and ability to control possession for long stretches of every game this season takes the pressure off the Saints’ back line.
James DeCosemo, the Saints’ third-year head coach, took over just weeks before the 2022 season when Lewis Robinson got the women’s soccer coaching job at Western Michigan University. He has molded this team into one fine unit in just under three seasons and has this team firing on all cylinders both defensively and offensively.
“I think Coach (DeCosemo) has done aa great job. He got the job only a few weeks before preseason two years ago and we have created a great culture here,” noted Shuk. “We have got better and better here each year as a team, and I think we have a great culture. Everyone gets along and everyone does their part. We have a great group of senior leaders and we’ll miss them next year, but I think we have some very good players that will be back next year.”
The No. 1-seeded Saints, who are also ranked fourth in the country in the NAIA polls, play their next game against one of the top offenses in the entire NAIA in fourth-seeded University of Tennessee Southern, which will face Aquinas at 8 p.m. Tuesday night at the Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex in Pensacola, Florida. The Firehawks (18-2-1) have outscored the opposition 148-13 this season with 13 shutouts. UT-Southern has averaged 7.40 goals-per-game offensively and have put up wins of 10-0, 11-0, 13-0, 16-0, 17-0 and 22-0 this season.
“Good for them,” offered Shuk, who has a .880 save percentage and the 0.31 goals-against-average that she attributes to her team’s defense and team play overall. “I don’t think they’ve played against a whole lot of defenses quite like ours. They won’t be able to get that many chances against our defense.”
The Firehawks’ schedule has not been as challenging as some of the other teams still left in the Sweet 16 of the NAIA national tournament. Still, UT-Southern has outshot the opposition 540-116 this season to help create the 146 goals as a team. UT-Southern has only conceded 13 goals and posted a 0.62 goals-against-average.
Aquinas College has lost in the NAIA national quarterfinals the last two years to a No. 1 seed and hope to continue its season into the later stages of the week if not longer. The Saints are trying to reach the Final Four for the first time but won’t look past any opponent.
“We don’t want to look past anyone. I know that sounds cliché’ but there’s a lot of good teams still left in the tournament. We were knocked out the last two years by really good teams. Two years ago, we were up on the team that ended up beating us. But I think we learned a lot in those games. We have a lot of players that have been here 2-3 years, and we have a lot of (big-game) experience.”
Kayla Shuk
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