SXU Athletics
It was a thrilling, hard-fought game for the Saint Xavier men’s soccer team on Saturday, but Holy Cross College got the better of the Cougars.
Saint Xavier hosted the first-round match of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Association tournament against the Saints. Holy Cross advanced to the second round with a 2-1 overtime victory.
In the 92nd minute, junior midfielder Jonghyun took a free kick from 20 yards out and buried.
That proved to be the game-winner when the Cougars could not answer in the final eight minutes of the overtime period.
The crowd in attendance should have expected no less in the matchup between the two talented teams. They had met once before, in a Sept. 27 match that concluded with a nil-nil draw after two overtime periods.
Saturday’s iteration of the matchup would not go so smoothly for Saint Xavier, who got down late in the first half.
In the 36th minute, senior midfielder David Rodriguez took a penalty in the box, for which he received a yellow card and Holy Cross got a penalty kick.
Son, who later scored the game-winner, did the honors and was able to beat senior keeper AJ Pfatschbacher to take the lead.
The Cougars were not going to give up without a fight, though, as they equalized late in regulation.
Saint Xavier was awarded a corner kick in the 82nd minute. Junior midfielder Erik Ramirez took the corner and got the ball to senior midfielder Brandon Simoes, who headed the ball on net and beat opposing keeper Brian Aldrich.
That goal would not be enough, and the Cougars did not advance beyond the first round of the CCAC tournament for the first time since 2008, when they did not make the tournament.
With the Cougars’ 5-0 victory over Robert Morris University on Nov. 5 to close the regular season, Saint Xavier finished 10-7-1 overall (8-2-1 in conference play).
Tim Carroll
Senior Sports Editor
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