Buffalo, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Lacrosse team tallied a season-high 17 goals, but had to hold-off a late surge by their opponents, D'Youville University to pick up a 17-15 victory on Saturday at Dobson Field in Western New York.

STAC improves to 5-6 overall and 1-3 in ECC play, while D'Youville slips to 4-10 and 1-4.

Junior Braiden Struss tallied four goals and added two assists on the day, while freshman Ryan Christensen (5 goals), junior Michael Huff (2 goals, 2 assists), freshman Jeremy Poggi (3 goals), graduate student Steven Apicella (1 goal, 3 assists), sophomore John Pena (1 goal, 1 assist) and sophomore Daniel Bartolomei (1 goal) provided the additional offense for the maroon and gold. D'Youville was led by Tristan Engelhardt, who recorded six goals.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• D'Youville tallied the first six goals of the match, as Tristan Engelhardt recorded a hat-trick, while Nick Sholett, Steve Lucas and Stefano Evan also scored a goal apiece to put the hosts ahead 6-0, with seven plus minutes still to play in the opening stanza.
• STAC broke the shutout with back-to-back goals from Braiden Struss and Ryan Christensen to cut the deficit to 6-2.
• Stefano Evan found the back of the cage with just under two minuted to play in the first quarter to make it a 7-2 Saints advantage.
• In the final 90 seconds of the frame, the Spartans received goals from Braiden Struss and Michael Huff to bring the maroon and gold within three at 7-4.
• John Pena, Michael Huff and Ryan Christensen opened the second quarter with a trifecta of goals to tie things on the scoreboard at 7-7.
• However, the stalemate would be short-lived, as D'Youville would answer with three goals of their own. Tristan Engelhardt, Stefano Evan and Nick Sholett all beat Spartans' netminder Craig Peavy to give the Saints back the lead at 10-7.
• STAC used the final four minutes before halftime to knot things up, when Braiden Struss, Daniel Bartolomei and Ryan Christensen all solved D'Youville goalie William Nichols to make it 10-10 at the break.
• When the teams returned to the field for third quarter action, Ryan Christensen and Jeremy Poggi led the charge for the maroon and gold, tallying a pair of goals apiece to put the Spartans ahead 14-10.
• D'Youville closed the scoring in the stanza on a Steve Lucas goal to make it 14-11 through 45 minutes of play.
• A wild final quarter ensued between the teams. STAC struck first for back-to-back goals courtesy of Steven Apicella and Braiden Struss to increase the margin on the scoreboard to 16-11.
• The Saints would not go quietly into the Buffalo afternoon, as Tristan Engelhardt picked up his fifth goal on the day, followed by teammates Suman Ramlall and Steve Lucas to close the gap to 16-14 with just over three and a half minutes to play in regulation.
• Jeremy Poggi's insurance marker with 2:33 left on the clock made it 17-14 in favor of STAC.
• The final goal of the match came via Tristan Engelhardt, as tallied his sixth on the day to make it 17-15 with 90 seconds to play.
• Off of the ensuing faceoff win by D'Youville, STAC's Craig Peavy had to make one final save in order to keep things as they were and allow his teammates to retrieve the groundball in order to run out the clock and pick up the win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• STAC tallied 27 shots on goal, with Ryan Christensen registering nine on net.
• Austin Palen gathered up 13 of the Spartans 36 ground balls in the match.
• Palen also went 8-for-32 on faceoffs for the maroon and gold.
• Goalie Craig Peavy (W, 4-4) stopped 13 of 28 shots faced to pick up the win.

UP NEXT:

STAC closes out its 2023 home schedule on Sunday, April 23 (1:00 p.m.) against Mercy College at Spartan Field. Senior Day festivities will precede the contest between the Spartans and Mavericks.