Sparkill, N.Y. – Lauren Cooper's first quarter goal powered the St. Thomas Aquinas College Women's Field Hockey team to its second consecutive victory, a 1-0 triumph over American International College on Saturday afternoon at Spartan Field in Sparkill.
 
The Spartans dominated possession of the ball right out of the gate. STAC put the pressure on the Yellow Jacket's defense early on, firing off two shots within the first seven minutes of play. In the 11th minute, Lauren Cooper would take possession of the ball on the near sideline and proceed to weave between defenders, finding her way to the front of the net and putting a shot past AIC goalie Taylor Wildes to give St. Thomas Aquinas a 1-0 lead.
 
Soild defense and time of possession would be the story in this one, as the Spartans would snuff out any offensive threat that the visiting Yellow Jackets would try to devise, and trap the ball in the AIC end of the field for long stretches, keeping their single goal lead in tact through three quarters of play.

In the fourth and final quarter, American International would try desperately to tie the game, as they would receive three penalty corner opportunites in the stanza, including two in the final 35 seconds of play. However, STAC's defensive effort would keep the visitors off of the scoreboard and give the Spartans the shutout win.

Inside the Box Score

• Lauren Cooper's first quarter goal is her second of the season for STAC.
• Cooper and Hailey Galison both registered two shots on goal in the contest.
• Jessie Hohenstein recorded her third victory and first shutout of the season, needing to make only one save on the afternoon.
• STAC held a 7-2 shots and 8-4 penalty corners advantage over AIC for the match.

Up Next

St. Thomas Aquinas (3-7, 2-4 NE10) takes on the University of New Haven in an NE10 road matchup on Tuesday, October 12 at 7pm in West Haven, CT.