New Haven, Conn. - Leading 1-0 in the fourth quarter, the St. Thomas Aquinas College Field Hockey team allowed a pair of goals, as Southern Connecticut State University dealt the visiting Spartans a heartbreaking 2-1 loss on Tuesday evening at Jess Dow Field.
STAC slips to 2-11 and 1-7 in NE10 action, while So. Conn improves to 5-8 and 3-5
Keana Criscuolo tallied a pair of goals for the Owls in the final stanza, erasing a late first quarter goal by the Spartans Nicola Van Vuuren.
In the cage, Lyndsay Troisi (W, 3-2) got the start for Southern Connecticut and only allowed a single goal on nine shots faced. Meanwhile, Madeline Schaefer (L, 2-6) got the nod for the Spartans and made six stops on eight shots.
How it Happened
- The maroon and gold opened the scoring with a late first quarter goal by Nicola Van Vuuren off of a penalty corner feed by teammate Hailey Galison, beating netminder Lyndsay Troisi to give STAC the 1-0 lead.
- Southern Connecicut tied things up early in the fourth quarter, as an initial shot by Taylor Leckey was blocked, only to see Keana Criscuolo pick up the rebound and beat goalie Madeline Schaefer to make it 1-1.
- Keana Criscuolo's second goal of the match came with just under nine minutes to play. Up a player due to a STAC green card, the Owls Isabella Taylor sent a pass to Criscuolo in front of the net for the quick strike, solving Schaefer, to give the hosts the 2-1 advantage.
Inside the Box Score
- So. Connecticut State outshot STAC 20-10 (10-9 on goal STAC) for the afternoon.
- Nicola Van Vuuren registered a team-high three shots, with each reaching the cage.
- Van Vuuren tallied her sixth goal of the season, while Galison picked up her second helper of the year.
- The Owls earned 10 penalty corners to the Spartans six in the match.
Up Next
STAC heads to Vermont for an NE10 matchup with Saint Michael's College on Saturday, October 19. The Spartans and Purple Knights are set to square off beginning at 1:00 p.m. inside of Duffy Field in Colchester.