Springfield, Mass. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Lacrosse team was outscored 8-2 in the second half, falling at American International College, 15-6, in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon at Ronald J. Abdow Field. 

STAC slips to 1-2 on the season, while AIC moves to 1-0 on the year. 

Joseph Casarella and Michael Huff each scored a pair of goals for the Spartans, while teammates John Pena and Ryan Christensen also found the back of the net for the maroon and gold. In the cage, Craig Peavy (L, 1-2) got his third straight start and stopped 16 of 31 shots.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• STAC opened the scoring with a Michael Huff tally two minutes into the contest to make it 1-0.
• American International then tallied three consecutive goals, with Tyler Goode, Hunter Terlik and Ryder Goodwin all finding the back of the net to pull ahead 3-1 through the first 15 minutes of action.
• John Pena got the second stanza started with a man down goal to pull the Spartans within one at 3-2.
• A pair of man up goals by Carter Linkletter and Dawson Long expanded the Yellowjackets lead to 5-2.
• Michael Huff then tallied his second goal of the game to make it 5-3 with just over nine minutes to play before halftime.
• AIC once again answered with back-to-back goals from Micaiah Boyle and Dawson Long to put the hosts up 7-3.
• Ryan Christensen got the Spartans within three, scoring the final goal of the first half with 2:00 left to make it 7-4, as the teams retreated to their respective benches for halftime.
• Once the teams returned to the field, it would be American International who would strike first in the new frame, tallying three straight goals via Tyler Goode, Devon Walker and Andrew Boyer to push the Yellow Jackets lead to 10-4.
• Joseph Casarella would net his first of the game for the maroon and gold with just under seven minutes left in the third quarter to make it 10-5.
• Andrew Boyer and Dawson Long closed out the scoring in the stanza with their second and third goals of the match respectively, giving AIC a 12-5 advantage through the first 45 minutes of play.
• One final scoring barrage by the Yellow Jackets, in the fourth quarter, put the game out of reach as Dawson Long tallied his fourth and fifth goals while down a man and Tyler Goode deposited a shot to the back of the cage for his third of the day, making it 15-5.
• A late goal by Joseph Casarella cut the deficit to single digits, but American International would walk away with the 15-6 victory.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:

• AIC outshot STAC 54-37 (31-20 on goal) for the game.
• Joseph Casarella tallied a team-high 11 shots (seven on goal) for the Spartans.
• Austin Palen gathered six of the Spartans 25 ground balls in the match.
• Reno Molina caused a team-high three turnovers on the afternoon.
• Austin Palen won 8-of-16 faceoffs for the maroon and gold.
• The Spartans took 17 penalties for 14 minutes, while the Yellow Jackets received 15 penalties for 12 minutes.

UP NEXT:

STAC opens the home-portion of its 2024 schedule on Saturday, February 24, hosting Georgian Court University at Spartan Field. The opening face-off between the Spartans and Lions is set for 1:00 p.m. in Sparkill, N.Y.