It was a cold November afternoon in Milwaukee, Wisconsin when the Saint Xavier Cougars came into town to play the Cardinal Stritch Wolves in the semifinals of the CCAC Tournament.
The Cougars and Wolves have played once this season with Cardinal Stritch winning 2-1 back in September. SXU defeated Robert Morris University in the first round of the playoffs last week, while Cardinal Stritch defeated St. Francis (IL) to get to this match.
Saint Xavier tried to get the game off to a great start with four attempted goals, but none of them went in. After the final failed attempt on goal, SXU defenseman Michael Gutierrez scored a goal to put SXU up 1-0. Just twelve minutes later, Cardinal Stritch responded with a goal to tie the game 1-1.
Cardinal Stritch dominated the rest of the half, but could not get a tie-breaking goal. SXU had a chance to break the tie before the first half came to a close, but a great shot from midfielder Danny Lopez failed to get in the net.
The first half came to a close with both teams tied at one. The second half started with Cardinal Stritch dominating the first fifteen minutes. Eventually, the SXU defense could not keep up with their offense and allowed a goal from Salvador Nunez.
The Wolves were now up 2-1 with around thirty-four minutes left in the game.
Both teams traded possession until the sixty-eighth minute, when Danny Lopez attempted a shot, but it was saved by Cardinal Stritch goalie Pablo Ortiz.
SXU did not get a single shot on goal for the remainder of the game. To make matters worse for the Cougars, Salvador Nunez scored his second goal of the game to put the Wolves up 3-1 with three minutes left to play.
In the final three minutes, neither the Cougars or the Wolves were able to do much and the game to an end when the Wolves winning 3-1.
The Wolves went on to face Olivet Nazarene University in the finals of the CCAC Tournament and won that game, winning the CCAC in the process.
This game also marked the end of the season for the Saint Xavier Cougars.
They finished the year with a 9-9-2 record, which is slightly worse than last season’s 10-8 record.
This was Saint Xavier’s worst season, in terms of wins and losses, since 2016, when they finished 5-10-4.
The team will be losing some star players before next year – Danny Lopez, Mike McLaughlin, and Ricardo Aldape are all graduating.
However, the Cougars have some great young talent, such as, Michael Gutierrez and Shane Badertscher, who should be able to bring SXU back to the forefront of the CCAC.
It has been another good year for the SXU Men’s Soccer program, despite the somewhat disappointing ending. However, this team has the talent and the potential to go very far very soon.
Chris Leonchik
Sports Editor