Sparkill, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Soccer team ran its unbeaten streak to four games on Tuesday, with a 4-2 victory over East Stroudsburg University, in non-conference action at Spartan Field.
The Spartans improve to 3-1-2, 0-0-1 in ECC play, while the visiting Warriors drop to 2-4, 1-0 in PSAC East action.
STAC opened the scoring in the sixth minute of action, as Anthony Bolivar Sanchez was able to flip a pass to the far right post and Christian Ferlisi, who headed the ball down and into the goal, to make it 1-0.
However, East Stoudsburg would tie things up at 1-1 in the 18th minute, when off of a corner kick, Spartan keeper Joshua Heber made an initial save, but the ball would sail high in the air. Pieter Neerhof was able to get his head on the ball and direct a shot into the corner of the net.
The visitors from the Keystone State took the lead less than 10 minutes later, as Colby Raymond was able to post a shot on a centering pass from Nathan Bradway. With a defender closing in, Raymond settled the possession and kept it away from Heber, depositing a shot into an open net to take a 2-1 advantage.
St. Thomas Aquinas tied the game and retook the lead in the 34th minute via back-to-back goals, separated by only 18 seconds. First, on a free kick outside the box, a shot curved before being deflected and headed into the near side corner by Lewis Paterson. Jorge Umana would then give the Spartans a lead they would not relinquish again, making a move after receiving a centering pass from teammate Kevon Evans and had time and space to sneak a shot past the diving ESU keeper Helgi Hermmanson, making it 3-2 just before halftime.
After the break, STAC would immediately double its lead to 4-2 in the 47th minute on a through ball, which would prompt Warriors' keeper Hermmanson to make a play on the ball outside of the goal box. Kevon Evans was able to prevent a Warrior defender from kicking the ball out-of-bounds and put a shot into an empty net with Hermmanson still recovering from the initial play.
East Stroudsburg had multiple chances to climb back into the match, while the host Spartans tried to extend its lead. Both sides remained status quo for the final 43 minutes of play, giving STAC the two-goal triumph.
Inside the Box Score
- Jorge Umana picked up his team-leading eighth goal on the season in the match.
- Kevon Evans tallied his sixth goal and 14th point of the season on Tuesday.
- Joshua Heber (W, 2-1-1) got the start between the sticks for STAC made three saves in 45 minutes of action.
- Tabor McDaniels saw action in goal for the Spartans in the second half and stopped all four shots faced.
- East Stroudsburg outshot St. Thomas Aquinas by a 15-10 margin, and also held a 7-2 advantage on corners.
Up Next
St. Thomas Aquinas College hosts ECC rivals, Molloy University on Saturday, September 17 in a 2 p.m. tilt at Spartan Field. The matchup between the Spartans and Lions is the first since the visitors from Rockville Centre defeated STAC in the 2021 conference tournament final on penalty kicks in Sparkill last November.