Pleasantville, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Field Hockey team dropped its 2023 season opener on Thursday afternoon, falling 2-0 to Pace University at Peter X. Finnerty Field in Westchester.

Pace improves to 2-0 on the young season, while STAC slips to 0-1.

How it Happened

• Pace managed to fire off nine first quarter shots, but could not get one past the Spartans' goalie Carlijn De Groot, while not allowing anything from the maroon and gold.
• The host Setters earned a penalty stroke in the opening frame which Tavia Flecksteiner took, but De Groot managed to make the save to keep Pace off of the scoreboard.
• However, Flecksteiner was able to convert in the second quarter. Taking a pass from teammate Krista Dietz, the sophomore midfielder fired a shot from the left side which beat DeGroot to the far side of the net to take a 1-0 lead early in the stanza.
• The aforementioned Flecksteiner was not finished on the afternoon. Taking a pass from Jessica Wolfe, she tallied her second goal of the afternoon to give Pace a 2-0 advantage.
• Despite several high quality scoring opportunities by the maroon and gold, the Spartans could not solve Setters netminder Celeste Pagliaroli (W, 1-0), who stopped all six shots that she faced on the day.

STAC Highlights and Game Notes

• Carlijn De Groot (L, 0-1) got the start in the cage for the Spartans in the opener and stopped 12 of 14 shots faced in her collegiate debut.
• Pace outshot St. Thomas Aquinas 28-9 and held the advantage in penalty corners, 18-4.
• STAC's nine total shots in the contest came from Adriana Alfisi (2), Katelyn Cerrato, Aaliyah James, Erin Bacalles, Nicola Van Vuuren, Brianna Cote, Sofia Corominas Cuen and Olivia Cerbo.

Up Next

St. Thomas Aquinas hosts East Stroudsburg University in the team's home opener at Spartan Field on Saturday, September 2, with the opening faceoff set for Noon in Sparkill.