Sparkill, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Women's Field Hockey team wrapped up its 2023 season on Saturday afternoon, falling to Southern New Hampshire University, 6-2 at Spartan Field.

STAC ends its year at 4-14 overall and 4-9 in the NE10, while SNHU moves on to postseason play, going 10-7 and 9-4.

Nicola Van Vuuren tallied her team-leading 11th goal of the season for the Spartans, while teammate Adriana Alfisi netted her 10th of the year. Emma Thibodeau scored twice for the visiting Penmen, with Minke van de Poll, Annemartine Christis, Eliza Bates and Amelia Crocombe also picking up goals.

In the cage, Carlijn De Groot (L, 3-10) stopped 8 of 12 shots faced in almost 50 minutes of action for the maroon and gold. Lilah Magenheimer saw action for the final 10 plus minutes of the match, allowing goals on two shots faced. On the other end of the field, Emma Peeters (W, 10-7) turned away three of five shots to earn her 10th win in 17 decisions for Southern New Hampshire.

How it Happened

• 6th Minute: An offensive rush upfield by the Penmen resulted in a shot by Anne Wiersma, which was initially saved by goalie Carlijn De Groot. However, Wiersma corralled a rebound and sent a pass to Minke van de Poll for a blast, which made it to the back of the net to make it 1-0 for the visitors.
• 7th Minute: A Spartans turnover allowed Annemartine Christis and company to make their way back toward the STAC net. Christis then took shot from the side of the cage and it found its way off of a defender and past De Groot to double the SNHU lead at 2-0.
• 11th Minute: On a restart, following a foul call against St. Thomas Aquinas, Eliza Bates picked up the ball and weaved her way through several defenders to find herself all alone in front of the cage. Bates ripped a shot past De Groot to give the Penmen a commanding 3-0 advantage.
• 12th Minute: Moments later, STAC finally got themselves on the scoreboard, as a penalty corner insert by Katelyn Cerrato made its way to the stick of Nicola Van Vuuren. Sensing defensive pressure, Van Vuuren immediately dished off to teammate Adriana Alfisi who sent a shot toward the cage and inside of the right post, beating goalie Emma Peeters to cut the deficit to 3-1.
• 44th Minute: Moments before the end of the third quarter, a restart following a foul allowed Southern New Hampshire's Jade Hendriks to send a through ball to Emma Thibodeau, who was standing all alone in front of the net. Thibodeau made the most of her opportunity, beating Carlijn De Groot to make it 4-1.
• 50th Minute: A penalty corner insert by STAC's Katelyn Cerrato made its way to the stick of Nicola Van Vuuren, who ripped a shot past Emma Peeters to cut the SNHU lead to just two at 4-2.
• 57th Minute: Another through ball for the Penmen, this time from Eliza Bates, found Emma Thibodeau on a partial breakaway. Thibodeau danced to the front of the net and deked goalie Lilah Magenheimer to score her second goal of the game, restoring the three-goal advantage at 5-2.
• 60th Minute: The final goal of the match came in the last minute, with Carley Lovejoy sending a feed to Amelia Crocombe, who beat Magenheimer at the side of the cage to make it 6-2 SNHU.

Inside the Box Score

• Southern New Hampshire outshot STAC 23-7 in the match.
• Nicola Van Vuuren took a team-high three shots, with two going on net.
• Katelyn Cerrato (2), Adriana Alfisi and Sofia Corominas Cuen accounted for the Spartans other shots taken.
• STAC held a 7-2 advantage in penalty corners over SNHU on the afternoon.