Sparkill, N.Y. – Seif Samy's header goal off of a crossbar rebound boosted the St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Soccer team to a thrilling 3-2, overtime victory over Mercy College on Sunday afternoon at Spartan Field in Sparkill.
 
The game-winning shot came in the 98th minute of action between the Spartans and the Mavericks, pushing STAC to 6-2-1 overall and 3-1-0 in the ECC.
 
Both teams played aggressively throughout the entire match, with STAC earning a 21-17 advantage in shots over the visitors. However, it would be Mercy College who would capitalize on their chances in the first half. In the eighth minute, Archie Jones would take a feed from teammate David Breitenbach and put the ball past goalkeeper Asier Vegas to make it 1-0. Sixteen minutes later, the Mavericks would double their lead at 2-0 on the strength of a Pau Echarri tally, with the assist going to Abraham Lopez.
 
After being held scoreless in the first 45 minutes, the Spartans returned to the pitch with a sense of urgency, and set the pace of play in the stanza. Hard work and a little luck would get STAC back into the game in the 55th minute, as Anthony Bolivar Sanchez would be awarded a penalty kick for a foul inside of the Mercy penalty area by goalie Felipe Baeza. Bolivar Sanchez would strike with a boot to the top right corner of the net to make it a 2-1 game.

Lady luck would be on the Spartan's side once again, this time in the closing moments of the match, as a handball in the box by a Mercy defender would give STAC another penalty kick. Anthony Bolivar Sanchez would once again take the PK, with just under four seconds remaining, and he would place the ball into the top right corner of the net to tie things up a two goals apiece and force overtime.

In the extra session, both teams would play a man down due to red cards, but it would not phase the Spartans as they were able to get two early shots on goal. The game-winner for STAC would come in the 98th minute, when a well-placed shot by Anthony Bolivar Sanchez would riccochet off of the crossbar, right to the head of Seif Samy, who would push the ball in behind Felipe Baeza to end the match and give St. Thomas Aquinas the 3-2 come-from-behind victory.

Inside the Box Score

• Asier Vegas faced 10 shots from between the sticks and tallied eight of saves to push his record to 5-1-0 on the year.
• Anthony Bolivar Sanchez's two goals on the afternoon, now gives him seven on the season and five on the week.
• Bolivar Sanchez led the Spartans with five shots in the match, with three going on goal and Jorge Umana was second with three (one on goal).
• In addition to the edge in shots, STAC led Mercy in corners, 7-5.
• Six different Spartans had chances on-frame.

Up Next

STAC will enjoy the next five days off from competition and prepare for their next opponent, Daemen College. The match will take place on Saturday, October 9 at Karrier Field in Amherst, NY, with kickoff scheduled for 1:30pm