Buffalo, N.Y. - In a close game with six different Spartans goal scorers, St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Lacrosse fell to D'Youville University in an 18-16 road decision on Saturday afternoon at Dobson Field.

STAC falls to 2-6 overall and 0-3 in ECC action, while D'Youville improves to 5-7 and 1-3.

Cam Wallace led STAC's offense with five goals on the afternoon, while Lucas Mullen struck for four goals and Nicola Greer tallied three goals and three helpers for the maroon and gold. Max Benoit (2 goals), Jeremy Schucker (1 goal, 1 assist) and Vinny Rosario (1 goal) also contributed to the Spartans totals on the score sheet. Hayden Gaudette (L, 2-5) got the start in the cage for St. Thomas Aquinas and stopped 16 of 34 shots faced 

Meanwhile, D'Youville was led by Carsyn Kent, who tallied four goals, while Obrigh Tallchief scored three goals and chipped in five assists and Brady Ruffalo netted three goals and added a helper. Jonathan Abbarno (2 goals, 2 assists), Stefano Evan (2 goals, 1 assist), Nick Sholett (2 goals), Cameron Fogarty (1 goal) and Johnny LaFleur (1 goal) added to the totals on the scoreboard for the Saints. Goalie William Nichols turned aside 6 of 14 shots thrown his way in the first half, with Casey Berns (W, 1-0) also stopping 6 of 14 shots in the second half to earn the victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

D'Youville scored six times in the opening frame, courtesy of Brady Ruffalo, Nick Scholett, Stefano Evan, Obrigh Tallchief, Johnny LaFleur and Jonathan Abbarno, while Cam Wallace tallied a hat trick in the stanza to make it a 6-3 advantage for the hosts.

Nicola Greer's two-goal second quarter, combined with scores from Cam Wallace, Lucas Mullen and Vinny Rosario helped to bring the Spartans closer on the scoreboard, but the Saints added a pair of goals from Carsyn Kent (2) and a goal from Cameron Fogarty to take a 9-8 lead into the halftime locker room.

Once the teams returned to the field, STAC received two third quarter goals from Lucas Mullen and one from Max Benoit. However, D'Youville continued to fill the net, as Brady Ruffalo, Nick Scholett and Carsyn Kent (2) lit the lamp to keep their team ahead on the scoreboard, 13-11 with 15 minutes left to play.

A seesaw final quarter saw the Spartans and Saints trade goals on multiple occasions, as first Cam Wallace and Max Benoit found the back the net, only to be answered by Obrigh Tallchief and Stefano Evan. Then Jeremy Schucker and Brady Ruffalo scored to make it 16-14 D'Youville with seven and a half minutes to play. Two more tallies by Saints players Tallchief and Jonathan Abbarno put them ahead 18-14. A final scoring frenzy by STAC's Lucas Mullen and Nicola Greer in the final minute of play narrowed the deficit to just two goals at 18-16, but the clock was not on the side of the maroon and gold on Saturday and D'Youville was able to escape with the slim margin of victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• D'Youville outshot STAC 53-42 (34-28 on goal) for the match.
• Lucas Mullen tallied a team-high seven shots, with five going on goal.
• Vinny Rosario gathered 13 of the Spartans 38 ground balls.
• Holden Johnston caused two Saints turnovers on the afternoon.
• STAC won 26 of 37 faceoffs, with Vinny Rosario winning 14 of 21 draws and Austin Palen successful on 12 of 16 draws.

UP NEXT:

STAC travels to Connecticut for a Wednesday afternoon (April 9) non-conference matchup with the University of Bridgeport. The Spartans and Purple Knights will lock horns beginning at 4:00 p.m.