The St. Thomas Aquinas men's soccer team advances to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the programs history. The Spartans finished the regular season 10-3-4 and were ranked 4th in the East Region going into the final week of the season. STAC is the #5 seed in the East Region Bracket and will play #4 seeded NYIT on Thursday at 4:00 p.m.
STAC faced the Bears in their final game this season, falling 2-0 on the road. The Spartans gave up one goal early in the second half as Sy Pierre headed in a shot off a corner kick from Vinny Caccavalle. The Bears scored again in the final minute of action to secure the win. NYIT beat Bridgeport 2-1 in the semifinals of the ECC tournament and then won the ECC Championship game with a 1-0 win over C.W. Post.
The Spartans are led by first team all conference players Daniel Davren and Remington Lee. Davren leads the team with 22 points and a team high 8 assists while Lee is the Spartans leading goal scorer with 8 goals. Sean Reily was named to the 2nd team All ECC and has contributed 6 goals and 4 assists this season. Goal Keeper Andrew Tartara was also named to the 2nd team all conference after recording 64 saves and 3 shutouts this season.
The Spartans were ranked 17th in the country earlier this season and have received national votes throughout the final weeks of the season along with being ranked among the top 5 in the region. This is the Spartans best season in the programs history and under head coach, Graham Brown. The Spartans finished the 2010 season at 12-5-1 which was the most wins in the programs history.
The Spartans will travel to the #1 seeded Franklin Peirce for Thursday's game and the winner will face the Ravens on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Thursday's game will be available online via the link below.
To Listen to St. Thomas Aquinas vs. NYIT click here: