The Saint Xavier men’s soccer team has saved its best play for conference action, just like the Cougars did in the 2013 season
Saint Xavier solidified its place in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference with a 3-0 defeat of Trinity International University Trojans on the road last Wednesday.
The Cougars followed that performance up with a 3-2 loss in overtime Saturday to the Olivet Nazarene University Tigers in Bourbonnais, Illinois.
Saint Xavier was on point with the defense in the game against Trinity International.
The Cougars allowed just three shots to the Trojans, two of which came in the first half.
Of those three shots, only one made its way to senior goalkeeper AJ Pfatschbacher, who deftly made the save against the Trojans.
The Saint Xavier offense did not put a ton of pressure on Trinity International, but the unit did its job with three goals on 17 shots (eight on goal).
Junior forward Roger Ciszewski was the first Cougar to make good on a shot on goal.
He received a pass from fellow junior forward Marco Gutierrez, got in toward the goal and buried in the 26th minute for his first goal of the season. It would not be his final goal of the week.
Ciszewski has been one of the more accurate shooters for Saint Xavier. Of his seven total shots, five have been on target, giving him a shots on goal percentage of .714.
The Cougars would not stop with just the one tally, but it would be a good chunk of time before they got the opportunity to score again.
In the 71st minute, Gutierrez headed one toward the net. Opposing goalkeeper Brad Stough made the save, but that would not deter the Cougars.
Senior forward Lorenzo Savino got the ball and struck for the second goal of the game and the first of his final campaign.
Then Saint Xavier came back for another insurance goal late in the TIU match.
In the 89th minute, freshman midfielder Ricardo Aldape took a feed from senior midfielder Brandon Simoes and snuck it past Stough for the three-goal lead.
With that late goal, Aldape took the team lead in points with 12 (five goals, two assists).
Gutierrez now trails with 11 points (four goals, three assists). Simoes is the next-best scoring Cougar. He has amassed nine points with his three goals and three assists.
The Cougar offense remained strong early in the contest against the Tigers of Olivet Nazarene.
Saint Xavier made good on what limited chances the Tigers gave the Cougars. Saint Xavier scored two goals on just five shots, three of which were on target.
Ciszewski again got the offense kick-started with a goal off a missed kick in the 12th minute.
The score would remain 1-nil until the 54th minute. That is when Saint Xavier committed a foul in the box that led to a Paddy Hoepp penalty kick attempt, which he snuck past Pfatschbacher.
With the score equalized, the Cougars looked to strike back and regain the lead.
Their golden opportunity came in the form of a penalty in the box against the Tigers.
Junior midfielder Erik Ramirez did the honors and scored his first goal of the season, putting the Cougars up 2-1.
The Tigers were not satisfied with just the one goal.
They came back in the 75th minute and scored off a cross that Tyler Gill headed in to equalize.
Pfatschbacher played a good match, making six stops during regulation.
The trouble came in overtime.
In the sixth minute of extra time, Hoepp took a corner kick and lofted the ball to fellow Tiger Richard Schneider.
Schneider cashed in with a game-winning header, which was his first goal of the season.
After the solid win against the Trojans and the overtime loss to the Tigers, the Cougars were 5-7-1 overall with a 3-2-1 mark in the CCAC as of Monday.
Each of the remaining four games the Cougars have will be against conference foes.
Next up is a home match Saturday against the Trolls of Trinity Christian College at Deaton Memorial Field at 2 p.m.
Then next Wednesday is another home game against the Cardinal Stritch University Wolves at 7 p.m.
It will be a busy end of the regular season schedule as the Cougars try to cement their place among the elite in the conference before the CCAC tournament begins.
Tim Carroll
Senior Sports Editor
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