The St. Thomas Aquinas College Field Hockey team picked up a 2-0 shutout victory over the Franklin Pierce Ravens on Tuesday afternoon in Rindge, New Hampshire.
STAC got on the scoreboard just six minutes into the first quarter, as Lisa Larsson tallied her fifth goal of the season, unassisted, on a strike from about 10 yards out after Larsson danced through the Ravens defenders to find time and space to bury her shot into the back of the cage to make it 1-0. The slim margin would hold up through the first quarter of play.
Jade Hall doubled the Spartan lead at the five minute mark of the second quarter when Hall was able to deposit a perfect rebound just inside the right post to make it 2-0 St. Thomas Aquinas. Although, she was not credited with an assist, Briannah Thorne was instrumental in setting up the second goal, as her initial shot ricocheted off of the pads of Franklin Pierce netminder Olivia Barnes and right to her teammate for the putback. The teams would retreat to their respective sides for the halftime break with STAC up by two.
The third quarter was highlighted by a series of Franklin Pierce penalty corners and shots at the Spartan net. However, the visiting maroon and gold would not allow a Ravens rally. Solid team defense and key saves by STAC goalie Suzanne Clarke kept things at 2-0 in favor of St. Thomas Aquinas College.
In the final quarter of play, Franklin Pierce was unable to mount any sort of offensive pressure in order to stage a comeback, while the Spartans maintained their defense and kept the action largely away from their own net to preserve the shutout victory.
STAC keeper Suzanne Clarke (W, 3-5) went the distance and made 5 saves, while Ravens goalie Olivia Barnes (L, 4-5) stopped 3 shots directed her way during the contest.
Franklin Pierce held slim margins in both shots (9-7) and penalty corners (7-5) on the afternoon.
St. Thomas Aquinas College (4-5) returns to the friendly confines of Spartan Field for a 1pm face off with the Stonehill College Skyhawks on Saturday, October 5th.