Washington, D.C. - Hailey Galison and Katelyn Cerrato tallied seven goals apiece in Thursday's 17-14 victory over the University of the District of Columbia at the Dr. Edwin Bancroft Henderson Sports Complex in our nation's capital.

STAC moves to 5-12 overall and 1-4 in ECC play, while UDC falls to 1-9 and 0-5.

Galison and Cerrato led the Spartans' offense by netting seven goals apiece with the graduate students also adding assists on three of the goals. Meanwhile, Morgan VanDover scored twice and Charlotte Luquer tallied a goal and a helper herself. Goalie Lilah Magenheimer (W, 5-9) got the start in net for STAC and turned aside 13 of 27 shots faced to earn her fifth win of the season.

On the other side of the field, UDC was led by Michelle Mitchell and Jada Williams, who tallied five goals apiece. Aliyah Bailey (1 goal, 3 assists), Gabriella Martinez (1 goal, 2 assists), Grace Hall (1 goal, 1 assist) and Najee Gunter (1 goal) added to the totals on the scoresheet for the Firebirds. Goalie Natalia Perkins (L, 1-7) stopped 6 of 14 shots fired her way.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

UDC opened the first quarter scoring via a Michelle Mitchell goal to make it 1-0, before a pair of goals from Katelyn Cerrato and Morgan VanDover gave the Spartans the 2-1 advantage. The Firebirds then stuck for four straight goals, courtesy of Ailyah Bailey, Jada Williams (2) and Mitchell to flip the scoreboard back in favor of the hosts at 5-2. A Cerrato tally, along with two goals from Hailey Galison closed out the scoring in the frame and knotted the game up at 5-5.

Second quarter action saw the maroon and gold retake the lead with three straight scores in the opening four minutes of the stanza. Morgan VanDover, Hailey Galison and Katelyn Cerrato all struck for goals to make it 8-5 STAC. UDC would respond with consecutive goals from Michelle Mitchell and Najee Gunter to cut the deficit to 8-7 at the half.

When the teams returned to the field for the third quarter, Hailey Galison would extend the STAC lead to 9-7 with her fourth goal of the game. Moments later, UDC's Jada Williams would capitalize on a power play goal to once again make it a one-goal game at 9-8. Back-to-back-to back tallies by Galison and Katelyn Cerrato (2) put the maroon and goals ahead by four, 12-8. The sides would trade goals to close the stanza, as Grace Hall made it 12-9, before Galison's sixth of the contest, this one short-handed, put the Spartans up 13-9 with fifteen minutes left to play.

Unfortunately the host Firebirds would not go away, scoring four of the first five goals to open the final quarter, as Gabriela Martinez, Jada Williams and Michelle Mitchell helped narrow the gap on the scoreboard for UDC and a seventh tally from Hailey Galison would keep STAC in the lead at 14-13. A Charlotte Luquer strike and two goals by Katelyn Cerrato then pushed the Spartans advantage to 17-13. One final goal in the closing seconds of the game by the Firebird's Jada Williams closed the scoring and made it a closer result at 17-14.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: 

• STAC outshot UDC 48-39 (38-27 on goal) for the match.
• Hailey Galison tallied a game-high 17 shots, with 14 going on net for the St. Thomas Aquinas grad student.
• Galison gathered 15 of the Spartans 46 ground balls and caused seven Firebirds turnovers on the afternoon
• STAC won 23 of 35 draw controls, with Katelyn Cerrato winning nine.

UP NEXT:

STAC closes out its 2025 campaign by hosting Molloy University on Saturday, April 26 at Spartan Field. The ECC matchup gets underway beginning at noon.