The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's soccer team fell to New York Institute of Technology, 3-0, in an East Coast Conference match at Spartan Field. The Spartans have now dropped three straight to fall to 4-5-1 overall and 2-4-0 in the ECC, with Tech improving to 10-2-0, 4-2-0.

After a spirited start which saw both teams have scoring chances early, the visitors got on the board first on the strength of Alberto Ruiz' shot, which deflected past STAC goalkeeper Aiden Tansey.

That lead would hold up through halftime, though a Michael Corbi attempt late in the session was turned aside by NYIT netminder Liam Waddy. Vinny Caccavale converted from all alone in front at 49:59 to give the Bears a big insurance marker, with Ruiz providing the assist.

STAC's task became even more daunting when leading scorer Michael Corbi was tagged with his second yellow card of the day and sent off with just over 32 minutes remaning. Playing down a man, the Spartans continued to battle until Dominic Iovino hit the mesh with just over three minutes remaining to seal the deal for the visitors.

Tansey - making his first collegiate start in net, turned aside four shots while Waddy made three saves in earning the shutout for NYIT.

The Spartans next game is this Saturday, October 19, when they host LIU-Post in another East Coast Conference tussle. Game time is set for 3:00 pm as the back end of a double-header which sees the women's teams start things off with a 12:00 noon kickoff.