The St. Thomas Aquinas men's lacrosse team beat St. Rose, 8-7 in their home opener on Thursday afternoon.  Briele Caples scored four goals amd two assists for the Spartans while Brenton Mighty and Tyler Senatore each scored two goals.  

Senatore scored the opening goal of the game giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead almost half way through the first quarter.  The visitor's Evan Doherty tied things up just a minute later with a goal off an assist from Jordyn Marchiano.  Caples first goal of the day came with seconds remaining in the opening quarter, putting the Spartans back on top, 2-1.

STAC remaining in control of the game dominating the early part of the second quarter to extend their lead to 4-1 behind goals from Mighty and Caples.  St. Rose added two more goals bring the visitors back within one to close the first half 4-3.  

The Spartans were off to another strong start in the third quarter scoring the first three goals, two from Caples and one from Senatore.  The visitor's tried to rally scoring four of the final five goals but Brenton Mighty's goal at the 11:35 mark in the fourth was enough to secure the victory for the Spartans.  

Kevin Alvora added an assist for the Spartans.  Ryan Mello earned his second win of the season recording 18 saves in the win.  STAC will return to action on Saturday when they travel to UDC for their first ECC game.  Game time is set for 3:00 p.m.