On Saturday, November 7, the Saint Xavier men’s soccer team competed in a first round CCAC tournament game against rival Cardinal Stritch University. The Cougars would score very early in the game, and never relinquish the lead thanks to great defense and goalkeeping.
The Cougars’ offense did not take long to get on the board, scoring a goal in the 4th minute to take an early 1-0 lead. The goal was scored by midfielder Ricardo Aldape from an incredible 50 yards out on a shot that he lofted and somehow found its way behind the CSU goalie and into the back of the net.
Minutes later, Cardinal Stritch would get their first real opportunity to score a goal. However, Saint Xavier goalkeeper Frank Valle came up with a huge save to preserve his team’s 1-0 lead in the 10th minute.
After that shot, the game would become chippy as both teams would commit multiple fouls on each other, showing the added emotion that comes with an important conference rivalry game that has potential playoff implications.
Eventually, the referees would attempt to curtail the aggressiveness of both teams as they would assign a yellow card to Saint Xavier defender Ivan Valencia in the 39th minute. The refs would also give another yellow card out to Saint Xavier forward Marco Gutierrez in the 43rd minute.
The half would end with the Cougars up 1-0. Despite the two yellow cards in the first half, both teams would continue to play very aggressive defense. This would result in another yellow card, this time it would be give to a CSU player.
In the 55th minute, Valle would be forced to make another great save in order to keep the Cougars up 1-0. Right after that shot on goal, the Cougars would get one of their own from substitute Elliot Kettle.
However, his shot would be saved, keeping the Cougars’ lead at just 1-0 with 34 minutes left to play. The next heart-pounding moment in the game would come in 67th minute, when CSU would get a point blank header on net.
But, once again, Valle would stand tall in net and make the clutch save to keep the Cougars ahead. In the 78th minute, the Cougars would get a prime opportunity to extend their lead. However, the header by defender Peter London was saved by CSU’s goalkeeper to keep the game close with just a few minutes left in the game.
Just a couple minutes later, in the 81st minute, Valle would come up with the most crucial save of the game, as it would prove to be the last great opportunity for either team to score. The Cougars, thanks to their defense and goaltending, would take this CCAC tournament game by the score of 1-0.
Goalkeeper Frank Valle proved to be the star of the game with a four save clean sheet to lead the Cougars in the CCAC tournament semifinals. Due to a shocking upset in the Purdue-University Calumet/St. Ambrose game, the Cougars will take on the seventh seeded St. Ambrose University Bees at home on Wednesday, November 11.
John Romando
Senior Sports Editor