The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's soccer team grabbed a pair of first-half leads but couldn't hold off Queens College in a 4-2 East Coast Conference loss at Spartan Field. The Spartans fall to 4-4-1 overall and 2-3 in ECC action, with Queens improving to 7-2-2, 3-1-1.

A perfect fall afternoon was the setting for a wild start to the game, with both teams trading goals early. STAC struck first in the 9th minute, when Michael Corbi found space after Yohan Loyer's throw-in and cranked a blast from outside the penalty area into the top right corner of the net.

Just under five minutes later, Jose Lopez posted the equalizer for Queens, as his healthy strike from the left side beat a helpless Nathan Mangione in the STAC net. Only six minutes later, Corbi found Michael Wagner, who tucked a shot just inside the far post beyone the outstretched hand of Knights' keeper Sean Geoghegan to make the score 2-1.

Less than two minutes later, a bad break for the Spartans would provide what proved to be the turning point of the game, as a Queens pass was inadvertantly struck by a hand in the STAC box, leading to a penalty kick, which was converted by Scott Lamont to once again tie the score.

With four goals in the first 21 minutes of play, things would settle down somewhat until the visitors broke the tie, with Paul Sandoval scoring off a scramble in front to give Queens their first lead of the day in the 37th minute.

That lead would extend into halftime, and both teams were much more cautious defensively after the break. Wagner would see an effort glance off the post and minutes later the Knights would find a big insurance goal. Lopez sent a nice feed to Nikolas Maher, who came in alone to make the score 4-2 for the visitors. The Spartans would apply some pressure late but were unable to score again, with both keepers registering five saves.

The Spartans return to action this Wednesday, October 16, taking on New York Institute of Technology in an East Coast Conference tilt at Spartan Field. It is the back end of a double-header starting at 3:30, after the women's match with begins at 12:30.