New Haven, Conn. - Despite receiving a multi-goal effort on the evening, the St. Thomas Aquinas College Field Hockey team fell to Southern Connecticut State University, 7-3 on Wednesday at Jess Dow Field.

STAC slips to 0-3 on the season, while So. Connecticut improves to 1-2.

How it Happened

• Adriana Alfisi got the scoring started for STAC, with her second goal of the season in the first quarter, off of a penalty corner by teammate Molly Vengenock. Alfisi's shot on the cage bounced off of several Owls defenders and into the back of the net to make it 1-0.
• Early in the second quarter, So. Connecticut tied things at 1-1 on a Tori Geaglone tally, which came off of a penalty corner. A little give and go between Geaglone and Kyla Hart-Perron resulted in a shot sneaking between the legs of Spartans goalie Carlijn De Groot.
• Just before halftime, a penalty stroke was awarded to the Owls by the officiating crew and Tori Geaglone connected on a strike to the left post, past De Groot to make it a 2-1 advantage for the hosts.
• Despite being down a goal at the break, St. Thomas Aquinas led the shot count 8-5 over Southern Connecticut.
• When the teams returned for third quarter action, several high-quality scoring chances were traded by either side, but the game would remain close for the first 11 minutes.
• However, a blocked shot by the STAC defense on the goal line, resulted in another penalty stroke being awarded to the Owls. Trinidad Rodriguez Ricchiuti would get the opportunity this time and connected on her first of the game to put So. Connecticut up 3-1.
• The Spartans would quickly strike back, as off of a penalty corner, Aaliyah James would a receive a pass from Madelyn Verstraten and fire it past goalie Rachel Miller to cut the deficit to 3-2.
• A fantastic cross-field pass by Trinidad Rodriguez Ricchiuti found Cierra Brundage, who deposited a shot to the back of the cage to make it 4-2 Southern Connecticut State before time expired in the stanza.
• Three straight goals by Kyla Hart-Perron, Natalia Fiato and Ruby Webb put an exclamation point on the proceedings in New Haven, extending the Owls lead to 7-2. with just over three minutes to play in the contest.
• Nicola Van Vuuren closed the scoring for STAC on the evening, earning her first goal of the season off of a penalty corner, with the pass eventually coming from Sofia Corominas Cuen to make it 7-3.

Inside the Box Score

• Adriana Alfisi's first quarter tally was her second goal of the season.
• Alfisi and Sarah Paraskos registered four shots apiece in the match.
• Katelyn Cerrato (3), Nicola Van Vuuren (2), Aaliyah James (1) and Sofia Corominas Cuen (1) also contributed to the Spartans 15 total shots.
• Carlijn De Groot (L, 0-3) got the start in the cage for STAC and stopped three of eight shots faced. Lilah Magenheimer saw time late in the fourth quarter and allowed two goals.
• STAC outshot So. Connecticut 15-12, and earned a 9-6 penalty corners advantage over the Owls on the night.

Up Next

St. Thomas Aquinas continues its season-long five-game road trip, visiting Millersville University on Wednesday, September 13. The action between the Spartans and Marauders gets underway at 6:00 p.m. in the Keystone State.