Sparkill, N.Y. - Despite building a 3-1 halftime lead, the St. Thomas Aquinas College Field Hockey team suffered a heartbreaking 4-3 overtime loss to Pace University on Tuesday afternoon at Spartan Field.

STAC slips to 0-9 overall and 0-4 within the NE10, while Pace improves to 5-2 and 2-2.

Julia Eshleman tallied a pair of goals for the Setters, with Noelle Meij and Krista Dietz also netting a goal apiece. Nicola Van Vuuren (2 goals )and Adriana Alfisi (1 goal) each scored their team-leading fifth goals of the season for the Spartans.

In the cage, Madeline Schaefer (L, 0-3) got her third straight start for St. Thomas Aquinas and stopped 14 of 18 shots faced, while on the other end of the field, Pace's Celeste Pagliaroli (W, 5-4) made five saves to earn her fifth win of the campaign.

How it Happened

• 1st Quarter - Off of a turnover by the Setters, Sofia Corominas Cuen drove to the net and fired a shot on Celeste Pagliaroli, which was stopped. However, Nicola Van Vuuren would find a loose rebound and poke it home to make it 1-0 STAC.
• 1st Quarter - Pace tied things on Noelle Meij strike, off of a restart on a foul call against the Spartans. Krista Dietz would send a through ball to Meij who snuck a shot between the legs of Madeline Schaefer to knot the game at 1-1.
• 2nd Quarter - A backhand shot by Nicola Van Vuuren would be tipped home by Adriana Alfisi at the left goal post to put STAC ahead 2-1.
• 2nd Quarter - Nicola Van Vuuren's second goal of the match would come via a penalty stroke, which Van Vuuren converted by rifling a high shot to the glove side of Pagliaroli to give St. Thomas Aquinas a two-goal advantage, 3-1.
• 3rd Quarter - A shot on goal by Tavia Flecksteiner was tipped into the net at the left post by Julia Eshleman to cut the Pace deficit to 3-2.
• 4th Quarter - Eshleman's second goal of the match came within moments of the start of the fourth quarter. A STAC turnover led Pace to immediately drive down the field and following a series of small passes, Anne Kopec found her teammate with a feed in front of the net for a tip past Schaefer to tie the game at 3-3.
• Overtime - Midway through the extra session, Noelle Meij would receive a pass that she would then dish off to Krista Dietz. Dietz then put a well placed shot on net, which went off of goalie Madeline Schaefer and rolled into the cage for the game-winning goal and the 4-3 Pace come-from-behind victory.

Inside the Box Score

• Pace outshot STAC 23-10 in the match.
• The visiting Setters also earned an 18-1 penalty corners advantage over the Spartans.
• Shots from Nicola Van Vuuren (5), Adriana Alfisi (2), Katelyn Cerrato (2) and Sofia Corominas Cuen accounted for the 10 total shots registered by the maroon and gold.

Up Next

St. Thomas Aquinas heads back out on the road, visiting Saint Anselm College on Saturday, September 30. The NE10 tilt between the Spartans and Hawks will get underway at Noon inside of Grappone Stadium in Manchester, New Hampshire.