Seaford, N.Y. - A Nicola Van Vuuren penalty stroke tally sent the St. Thomas Aquinas College Field Hockey team to a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over Molloy University on Tuesday afternoon at Cedar Creek Park.

STAC improves to 4-13 overall and 4-8 within the NE10, while Molloy remains winless at 0-15 and 0-13.

Madelyn Verstraten netted two goals on the afternoon, including the game tying tally in the fourth quarter for the maroon and gold, while Adriana Alfisi added a goal and the aforementioned Nicola Van Vuuren scored the game winner. Kassandra Sakhat scored twice for Molloy, as Devin Harkins also tallied a goal for the hosts.

In the cage, Carlijn De Groot (W, 3-9) made 8 stops on 11 shots for the Spartans, with Kelsey Price (L, 0-15) turning away 11 of 15 shots faced for the Lions.

How it Happened

• 2nd Minute: A penalty corner insert by Madi Stuckart found the stick of Kassandra Sakhat for a blast to the back of the cage, beating goalie Carlijn De Groot, to make it 1-0 Molloy.
• 5th Minute: Kassandra Sakhat was awarded a penalty stroke and she converted with a hard, low shot inside of the right post, beating De Groot to double the Lions lead at 2-0.
• 21st Minute: On a restart following a Molloy foul, Nicola Van Vuuren sent a through ball to teammate Adriana Alfisi, who sent an attempt toward the net, which was deflected into the air by the Lions defense. Madelyn Verstraten cut to the net and tipped the high shot down from the crossbar into the cage to make it a 2-1 game.
• 30th Minute: In the final seconds before halftime, Adriana Alfisi was tripped up on a partial breakaway by a Lions defender, earning a penalty stroke. Alfisi beat the clock and the goalie, as her attempt beat sailed past Kelsey Price to the middle of the net to knot the game up at 2-2.
• 49th Minute: Molloy started an offensive rush, putting the Spartans defense back on their heels. An initial shot by Alexa Denis was stopped by Carlijn De Groot, but a rebound came out to the stick of Devin Harkins, who fired it home to break the tie and give the hosts a 3-2 advantage.
• 55th Minute: STAC returned the favor minutes later, as Erin Bacalles sent a high-rising attempt toward the cage that was kicked away by Price. However, Madelyn Verstraten was able to corral a loose rebound and deposit a shot to the back of the net to tie the match at 3-3.
• 72nd Minute (OT2): After a scoreless first overtime period, an offensive rush by the Spartans turned into another partial breakaway, this time for Nicola Van Vuuren. As Van Vuuren attempted to cut to the net, she was tripped up by a Molloy defender causing another penalty stroke to be awarded. Nicola ripped a low shot inside of the right post, beating Kelsey Price to give the maroon and gold the 4-3 triumph in extra time.

Inside the Box Score

• Van Vuuren's goal is her team-leading tenth of the season and keeps her within the top ten among goal scorers in the Northeast-10 Conference.
• STAC outshot Molloy 20-15 in the match, while the visiting Spartans also earned a 12-11 penalty corners advantage over the Lions.
• Sofia Corominas Cuen recorded a game-high six shots, with five going on goal.

Up Next

St. Thomas Aquinas closes out its 2023 schedule, facing Southern New Hampshire University on Saturday, October 28 (2:30 p.m.) at Spartan Field.