Nicole Eisenhauer staked the St. Thomas Aquinas College women's soccer team to a first half lead, but Caldwell College battled back to take a 3-1 decision at Caldwell on Tuesday. The Lady Spartans, coming off an opening day victory over Post University, fell to 1-1 on the season while Caldwell improved to 3-2 with the non-conference decision.

The host Cougars carried the play through much of the first half, allowing just one shot, but STAC made it count midway through the first half. Eisenhauer's shot from 12 yards out found its way past goalkeeper Robin Franchi at the 22:54 mark to give the Lady Spartans the lead.

Caldwell evened the score at the 35:21 mark when Megan Ferrara took a feed from Lisa Rovatsos and beat Lady Spartan netminder Avaree Rainford to make it a 1-1 contest. Despite being outshot 10-1, STAC appeared primed to take that score into the halftime locker room, but Carissa Strye's corner kick in the waning seconds deflected off Lauren Iuliucci to give the Cougars their first lead, with the marker officially credited at the 44:59 mark.

That same combination would strike again off a corner in the second half at the 62:23 mark to provide the final tally. The Lady Spartans battled despite being outshot by a 21-3 margin on the strength of Rainford's seven saves, but it was not enough to hold off the charging Cougars. Caldwell also enjoyed an 11-1 edge in corner kicks.

Today's game starts a tough string of four road games in nine days, continuing this Thursday, September 13, with a trip to Pennsylvania to face Lock Haven University in a tilt that was originally slated as a STAC home game but was postponed this past Saturday. On Saturday, the Lady Spartans open their East Coast Conference schedule in a 4:00 match against defending conference champion Dowling, before traveling to local rival Dominican next Wednesday, September 19.

After playing five in a row on the road to start the campaign, the Lady Spartans will enjoy the home field for the first time, hosting Molloy College on Saturday, September 22, at 12:30 pm as the front end of a double-header, followed by the men's teams taking the field.