The terrific 2011 season for the St. Thomas Aquinas College men's soccer team came to a close on Saturday, with a 5-0 setback at the hands of host Franklin Pierce University in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division II Tournament in Rindge, NH. The Spartans finish the year with a record of 11-4-4

STAC's men made their mark on the national tournament this year, earning the program's first victory ever. After narrowly failing to qualify for the East Coast Conference tournament, the #5 seeded Spartans took full advantage of their NCAA at-large bid by ousting ECC conference champion and #4 seed NYIT, 4-1, on November 10, on the strength of Remington Lee's two goals.

The magical ride came to a close against the host squad, however, as the Ravens (20-0-1)  - ranked #1 in the East Region and #2 in the nation - broke the seal early and never looked back. FPU's Paul Latif scored the first of his two goals, to go with two assists, in just the fifth minute of play and Pierce never looked back. Greg Giguere added a tally in the 43rd minute to send the Spartans into the halftime locker room down a pair.

Three additional markers in the second half spelled the end of STAC's stellar season, as goalkeeper Andrew Tartara's four saves wasn't enough to stem the tide. With the victory, Franklin Pierce advances to the NCAA Quarterfinals where they will meet #2 seed Southern New Hampshire University, who topped #3 LIU-C.W. Post by a 2-0 score on Sunday. That match will take place on Saturday, November 19, at FPU.

The Spartans were well recognized for their outstanding 2011 campaign. STAC was paced this season by First Team All-Conference players Daniel Davren and Remington Lee. Davren led the team with 24 points and a team-high eight assists while Lee was the Spartans leading goal scorer with 10 goals.  Sean Reily was named to the Second Team All ECC and contributed seven goals and four assists. Goalkeeper Andrew Tartara was also named to the Second Team All-Conference after recording 64 saves and three shutouts this season.