Aquinas wins WHAC Tournament Title in PK thriller

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The matchup between the top two seeds in the 2024 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) championship game lived up to the hype. The top-seeded Aquinas Saints and the #2 seed UNOH Racers battled to a 1-1 draw after double overtime, forcing a penalty shootout to decide the tournament champion. Aquinas emerged victorious, winning 3-2 on penalties to claim their first tournament title since 2022 and their third in the last four seasons. Despite the loss, UNOH secured the WHAC's second automatic bid to the national tournament, joining Aquinas who had already clinched a spot by winning the regular season title.

All of the scoring occurred in the first half of what became a defensive struggle. UNOH struck first in the ninth minute when WHAC Newcomer of the Year, Natalia Lima, assisted by Second Team selection Vivian Purmonen, put the Racers up 1-0. The lead held until the 34th minute when first-teamers Avery Tack, Sydney Shenk, and Maeva Lichtensteiger combined to level the score at 1-1.

Both defenses tightened up for the remainder of regulation and overtime. Aquinas managed six shots, while UNOH countered with five. UNOH goalkeeper Sophia Eisner made four saves, while Aquinas' Kayla Shuk recorded five to set the stage for the thrilling penalty shootout.

UNOH missed their first two attempts, while Aquinas converted both to take a 2-0 lead. UNOH rallied, scoring their next two penalties, and Aquinas missed their next two to tie the shootout at 2-2. However, UNOH was unable to capitalize on their final attempt, and Aquinas' Brittney Probst sealed the victory with a successful penalty, giving the Saints a 3-2 advantage.

This was the first WHAC tournament championship game to go to overtime since Aquinas defeated UNOH in OT in 2021. It was also the first WHAC tournament title game decided by penalty kicks since 2013 when Davenport defeated UNOH.

Automatic Berths to NAIA Opening Round
Regular-season champion receives first automatic berth to NAIA Opening Round. Due to tiebreakers found in the WSOC handbook, Siena Heights wins the tiebreaker and receives the WHAC regular-season autobid and #1 season in the WHAC tournament.

Conference tournament champion receives second automatic berth to NAIA Opening Round.
(if conference champion also wins tournament, then tournament runner-up receives second auto berth)

All-Time Conference Tournament Champions
1998 (1) Siena Heights
1999 Unknown
2000 (1) Madonna
2001 (1) Madonna
2002 (3) Indiana Tech
2003 (1) Madonna
2004 (2) Cornerstone
2005 (1) Madonna
2006 (3) Siena Heights
2007 (1) Aquinas
2008 (2) Siena Heights
2009 (1) Siena Heights
2010 (1) Cornerstone
2011 (2) Siena Heights
2012 (1) Davenport
2013 (1) Davenport
2014 (1) UNOH
2015 (1) UNOH
2016 (2) UNOH
2017 (3) Siena Heights
2018 (2) Aquinas
2019 (1) UNOH
2020 (3) Madonna
2021 (1) Aquinas
2022 (1) Aquinas
2023 (3) UNOH 
2024 (1) Aquinas