The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's soccer team fell to a 5-0 defeat at Dowling College in the East Coast Conference opener for both teams. STAC fell to 2-4 overall with the Golden Lions improving to 2-3 on the season.

A traditional conference power, Dowling wasted little time taking control, resulting in a pair of early goals. Rebecca Raber's rebound at 5:04 put the hosts on the board and Kelly McQuail converted a header at 15:16 to give the hosts a 2-0 cushion they carried into halftime.

Just over eight minutes into the second half, Taylor Davide gave the Golden Lions a 3-0 edge and a pair of quick strikes from Allie Merrill and Amber Pindulic rounded out the scoring. Courtney Dumain saw the bulk of the action in the STAC net, making five saves, while Lauren Morales made four.

The Lady Spartans will return to action this coming weekend for a pair of ECC home contests on Friday and Sunday, hosting Roberts Wesleyan and Daemen, respectively. Both games will kickoff at 12:00 noon.