Sparkill, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Lacrosse team closed out the home-portion of its campaign on Saturday morning, falling to No. 15 USILA-ranked Mercy University 19-9 at Spartan Field.
STAC falls to 3-9 overall and 0-5 in ECC action, while Mercy improves to 8-3 and 5-0.
Prior to the contest between the Spartans and Mavericks, STAC recognized its graduating senior class; Chris Caldara, Steven Ojeda, Craig Peavy, John Pena, Frank Schaefer, Jeremy Schucker, Tyler Shertzer and Devin Sierra, and then celebrated each with postgame ceremonies back on campus, which included the athletes' families and friends.
When the teams got down to business on the turf, Austin Maybee led the Spartans' offense with four goals and an assist on the afternoon. Teammate Cam Wallace posted a hat trick, while Christian Rodriguez scored a goal and added two helpers and Lucas Mullen chipped in a goal. Goalie Craig Peavy (L, 0-2) got the start between the pipes for the maroon and gold and stopped 9 of 20 shots faced in the first half. Hayden Gaudette saw action in the second half and turned aside 9 of 17 shots propelled his way.
Meanwhile, Mercy was led by Jimmy Osorio, who racked up four goals. Aidan Babnik tallied three goals, while Ryan Smith scored a pair of goals and added four assists for the Mavericks. Additionally, Justin Ortiz (2 goals, 2 assists), Colin Orsino (2 goals), Connor Abrahall (2 goals), Shane Roche (1 goal, 2 assists), Devon Duchnowski (1 goal), Ian Votta (1 goal) and Cole Hunsberger (1 goal) added to the totals on the scoreboard for the visitors. Netminders Cameron Dorfman (W, 8-3), Peter Murphy and Ryan Strzalkowski combined to turn aside 12 of 21 shots faced.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:
- Mercy outshot STAC 55-31 (37-21 on goal) for the game.
- Austin Maybee tallied a team-high five shots, with all five going on net for St. Thomas Aquinas.
- Vinny Rosario gathered nine of the Spartans 47 ground balls.
- Holden Johnston caused two Mavericks turnovers on the afternoon.
- STAC won 18 of 30 faceoffs, with Vinny Rosario winning 15 of 21 draws and Austin Palen securing 3 of 9.
UP NEXT:
STAC visits crosstown rivals Dominican University on Wednesday, April 23 for a 4:00 p.m. non-conference tilt at O'Brien Field in Blauvelt, New York.