SXU Athletics
The Saint Xavier men’s soccer team continues to roll on through the month of October.
The Cougars picked up another win last Wednesday with a 3-1 defeat of Cardinal Stritch University in a night game at Deaton Memorial Field.
The win puts Saint Xavier at 8-7-1 overall with a 6-2-1 mark in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
The victory also gives the Cougars a 5-1 record in the month of October, with the only loss coming in a 3-2 match played at Olivet Nazarene University on Oct. 11.
Saint Xavier has outscored opponents 18-4 during this hot stretch against conference opponents.
During that time, freshman midfielder Ricardo Aldape has broken out as a serious threat to score every time he has the ball.
He did just that with his 25th-minute goal, the first of the game.
After a foul went against Cardinal Stritch, Aldape took a free kick from about 20 yards deep and buried into the lower right corner of the goal.
Aldape would later have an assist, but he was efficient. He only had one shot for the entire game and he scored on it.
With his goal, Aldape crept closer to junior forward Marco Gutierrez in the team lead for points.
Gutierrez added a point on an assist later in the game, so he still has the team lead with 19 points (seven goals, five assists).
But not far behind is Aldape, whose goal and later assist gave him 17 points on seven goals and three assists.
Aldape’s goal would be the only score of the first half. Senior goalkeeper AJ Pfatschbacher did not have to make a save in the first 45 minutes of play. The only shot that got through to him in the period caromed off the crossbar harmlessly.
The Cougars added to their lead early in the second half, though.
SXU Athletics
Senior midfielder Tom Lojek was on his offensive game in the second half.
Sophomore midfielder Kamil Szczesniak found Gutierrez. Gutierrez in turn got the ball to Lojek, beat opposing goalkeeper Jim Jones from about 15 yards out.
That 49th-minute goal gave the Cougars a 2-nil lead, but Lojek was not done.
In the 51st minute, Aldape got the ball to Lojek just 10 yards from the goalmouth. Lojek buried his second goal of the game to give Saint Xavier a 3-0 lead.
Lojek finished with two goals on five shots, two of which were on net.
Very quickly after Lojek’s second goal, the Cardinal Stritch Wolves responded with their only strike of the match.
Favian Gonzalez got the ball in close to Pfatschbacher in the 52nd minute and beat Pfatschbacher with a strike from five yards away from the goal.
Pfatschbacher faced five shots on goal all game and made four stops. The Wolves had 15 shots total, but they were generally inaccurate.
The senior keeper is now giving up just 1.4 goals per game on average. He is also making saves at 71.2% on the season.
The Cougars actually did not have as many chances as the Wolves.
Saint Xavier finished with 12 shots. Seven of those were on goal, and three of those seven went in the goal.
The next Saint Xavier opponent is Roosevelt University, a team that received votes in the latest NAIA top-25 coaches’ poll. That match is a 2 p.m. contest at Roosevelt.
Then the Cougars conclude the regular season with a home match against Robert Morris University next Wednesday.
That contest between Saint Xavier and Robert Morris is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Deaton Memorial Field.
After that, it is on to the CCAC tournament for the Cougars, who have shown that they play their best soccer of the year in tournament play.
The CCAC tournament’s opening round is on Nov. 8. The opponent and time of the match will be determined as a result of the CCAC standings at the conclusion of the regular season.
Tim Carroll
Senior Sports Editor
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@TimCarroll_XAV
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