The St. Thomas Aquinas College Field Hockey team dropped a 4-2 road decision to Bentley University on Saturday afternoon in Waltham, Massachusetts. The matchup was the first-ever conference contest for the Spartans as members of the Northeast-10.
In the first quarter, Bentley jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead when Tess Anderson tipped in a Rachel Crowley pass almost two and a half minutes in and followed that up with a Ashley Scholten unassisted goal on a penalty stroke three minutes later. The visiting Spartans were on the defensive end of the field for a large part of the first stanza, as the Falcons registered 8 shots in fifteen minutes of action.
The second period of action saw both teams trade goals, as Lisa Larsson picked up her first Spartan goal on a bouncing shot from the top of the arc that got through goalie Kayleigh Vogel, cutting the Falcons lead in half at 2-1. However, with moments to go before halftime, Bentley was able to extend their lead back to 2 goals, when Rachel Crowley deflected a Sam Pavano shot past Suzanne Clarke, making it 3-1 Bentley at the break.
Again, both squads traded third quarter goals, with Briannah Thorne depositing a Lotte Strijbos penalty corner pass into the back of the Bentley net, narrowing the deficit to 3-2. Unfortunately, the Falcons offense would not be held down and Rachel Crowley drilled a shot from the top of the arc on a short pass from Sam Simione, pushing the Bentley lead back to two, at 4-2.
Despite the Spartans best efforts at a fourth quarter comeback, which featured a number of quality chances, the Bentley defense was able to keep the visitors from Sparkill in check and close things out to take the victory.
STAC keeper Suzanne Clarke (L, 2-1) made 5 stops on the day, while her counterpart in the Falcons goal, Kayleigh Vogel (W, 2-1) made 3 saves.
Bentley held a slight 16-11 shots advantage for the game, with St. Thomas Aquinas having the 10-6 edge in penalty corners.
STAC (2-1) next holds their 2019 home opener on Tuesday, September 17th at Spartan Field, as Adelphi University pays a visit to Rockland County. Game time is set for 4pm.