The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's soccer team rallied before falling to a 5-3 defeat at St. Anselm College. The Spartans now stand at 0-2 on the young season while St. Anselm is now 1-0.

STAC, playing its second game in three days, stumbled out of the gate as the Hawks jumped to an early lead. Michael Budrewicz struck twice in quick succession, finding the net at 17:54 and 19:55 to open a 2-0 lead. Zach Elliot tallied at 24:10 and Budrewicz completed the first-half hat trick at 39:57 to put the Spartans in a deep 4-0 hole.

After being outshot by a decisive 11-2 margin in the first half, STAC regrouped after the break and turned the tide, starting with Alejandro Camejo's connection from Amaan Aslam at the 57:53 mark. Just over 10 minutes later, Aslam added an unassisted goal, cutting the deficit to 4-2 at 69:40. Jorge Mazariego trimmed the margin to one off an assist by Aljaz Mak to give the visitors life with 11:25 still showing on the clock.

As they pressed forward in the waning seconds looking for the equalizer, St. Thomas Aquinas turned the ball over and Elliot recorded his second of the afternoon with only 1:14 remaining to close out the win. The Spartans carried the play in the second half with a 14-8 shots advantage, while Cameron Turner started and absorbed the loss in net.

The Spartans return to the road to take on Holy Family University on Wednesday, September 11, in a 4:00 kickoff before hitting the turf at Spartan Field for their first two home games of the campaign. STAC's home opener will be against the College of Staten Island at 3:00 pm on Monday, September 16, then they will open their East Coast Conference schedule against the University of Bridgeport on Saturday, September 21 in a 1:00 start.