Sparkill, N.Y. - Despite being able to tie up the score on three separate occasions during the game, the St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Lacrosse team fell to Holy Family University by a final of 16-13 on Wednesday afternoon at Spartan Field 

The loss is the Spartans second straight as the team drops to 2-4 on the season. Meanwhile Holy Family improves to 7-3.

Lucas Mullen led the STAC's offense with two goals and four assists on the afternoon, while Wilson Ingalls, Cam Wallace and Nathan Thomas each struck for a pair of goals for the maroon and gold. Austin Maybee (1 goal, 1 assist), John Pena (1 goal), Lou Takacs (1 goal), Ben Eckert (1 goal) and Vinny Rosario (1 goal) also contributed to the Spartans totals on the score sheet. Hayden Gaudette got the start in the cage for St. Thomas Aquinas and stopped 2 of 10 shots faced, before being replaced by teammate Craig Peavy  (L, 0-1). Peavy turned aside 8 of 16 shots fired his way.

Meanwhile, Holy Family was led by Noah Simpson, who tallied six goals and added a helper, while James Bienia scored four goals and chipped in two assists and Jake Feeney netted three goals and added three assists. Xander Kelly (1 goal, 2 assists), Nick Gargan (1 goal) and Maxx Covely (1 goal) added to the totals on the scoreboard for the Tigers. Goalie James Demakopoulos (W, 7-3) went the distance and made 9 stops on 22 shots sent his way to earn the victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Holy Family struck for the first four goals of the match, before STAC answered with four of their own (C. Wallace, Pena, Mullen, Ingalls) to even the score at 4-4 with 100 seconds to play in the opening stanza. Unfortunately, the Tigers were able to retake the lead in the final seconds to make it 5-4 at the end of the frame.

Opening the second quarter, the visitors struck for a pair of early goals to increase their lead to 7-4, but the Spartans responded with a Mullen tally to cut the deficit to 7-5. The sides then put home two goals apiece, with Rosario and Eckert scoring for the maroon and gold to make it 9-7 Holy Family. An additional Tigers goal made it 10-7 at halftime.

After the intermission, STAC came out with a vengeance, as C. Wallace, Maybee, Thomas and Ingalls found the back of the net with four of the five goals scored in the quarter to tie the game for a second time at 11-11.

In the final 15 minutes of regulation, Holy Family picked up two early goals to retake the lead at 13-11. However, St. Thomas Aquinas would respond with a consecutive goals of their own midway through the quarter via Thomas and Takacs to square things again at 13-13. The final six minutes of action proved to be fruitful for the visitors from the Keystone State, as the Tigers scored the final three goals of the match to close things out in their favor, 16-13.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Holy Family outshot STAC 43-27 (26-22 on goal) for the match.
• Cam Wallace tallied a team-high five shots, with four going on goal.
• Craig Peavy and Stone McGregor each gathered seven of the Spartans 56 ground balls.
• Holden Johnston caused four Tigers turnovers on the afternoon.
• STAC won 22 of 32 faceoffs, with Vinny Rosario winning 11 of 19 draws and Austin Palen successful on 11 of 13 draws.

UP NEXT:

STAC hosts Frostburg State University on Saturday, March 29 at Spartan Field. The Spartans and Bobcats tangle in ECC action beginning at 3:00 p.m.