Rindge, N.H. - Despite receiving a goals from Nicola Van Vuuren and Adriana Alfisi, the St. Thomas Aquinas College Field Hockey team fell to Franklin Pierce University, 3-2 on a late goal Saturday night at Sodexo Field.

STAC slips to 1-11 overall and 1-6 in the NE10, while Franklin Pierce improves to 5-5 and 4-3.

The aforementioned Van Vuuren tallied her team-leading eighth goal of the season for the Spartans, with Alfisi picking up her sixth. Meanwhile, Aria Caputo picked up two goals and Rebecca Phillips scored the game winner for the Ravens.

In the cage, Madeline Schaefer got the first start for St. Thomas Aquinas and stopped five of seven shots faced, before Carlijn De Groot (L, 0-7) made her return from injury in the second half. De Groot, made three stops on four shots. On the other end of the field, Franklin Pierce's Zoe Noorlag (W, 5-5) went the distance and made 11 saves on 13 shots.

How it Happened

• 5th Minute: On a penalty corner insert by the Ravens, a shot by Silver Cluckey was tipped past Madeline Schaefer at the right post by Aria Caputo to make it 1-0 Franklin Pierce.
• 14th Minute: A late Spartans turnover and subsequent foul allowed Franklin Pierce to race up the middle of the field. Silver Cluckey fired a shot on net that was initially stopped by Schaefer, but the rebound was poked home by Aria Caputo for her second goal of the match, making it 2-0 with 62 seconds to play in the opening quarter.
• 22nd Minute: STAC broke the shutout on a penalty corner insert, as Katelyn Cerrato sent the ball to Nicola Van Vuuren who rifled a laser past Zoe Noorlag and to the back of the net, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
• 52nd Minute: The game-tying tally came on a Ravens turnover, as Nicola Van Vuuren powered her way up the near sideline and put an initial soft shot on goal, which was kicked out by Noorlag. Adriana Alfisi then corralled the ball and fanned on her shot attempt, but the ball rolled just enough to get by Zoe Noorlag and cross the goal line to make it 2-2.
• 58th Minute: Franklin Pierce's game winner came in the final moments of the contest, as the Ravens raced down field with Rebecca Phillips leading the charge. Phillips beat several Spartans defenders and sent a shot on net that rolled past a diving Carlijn De Groot to put the hosts ahead for good, 3-2.

Inside the Box Score

• Van Vuuren's goal keeps her into a third place tie for goals scored in Northeast-10 Conference.
• STAC outshot Franklin Pierce 21-15 in the match, while the host Ravens earned a 12-11 penalty corners advantage over the Spartans.
• Nicola Van Vuuren and Adriana Alfisi each recorded a game-high seven shots apiece, with five going on goal.

Up Next

St. Thomas Aquinas returns home to take on Southern Connecticut State University on Tuesday, October 10 (2:30 p.m.) at Spartan Field.