Buffalo, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Soccer team secured its first East Coast Conference playoff berth under Head Coach Edison Sanchez Aviles with a 7-0 thrashing of D'Youville University on Saturday afternoon at Dobson Field in Western New York.
STAC improves to 6-4-2 overall and 5-1-0 in ECC action, while D'Youville falls to 3-7-2 and 1-3-1.
The Spartans received a pair of goals from Kevon Evans, while teammates Mika Leue, Francisco Degiorgi, Uhunoma Fredrick-Ilekhuoba, Santos Guerrero and Sebastian Ortega also struck for goals. Goalkeeper Dante Muntane (W, 5-3-2) got the start for the maroon and gold and had to make just one save in a little over 61 minutes, before being spelled by Ryan-Robert Ndje for the final 28 plus minutes. Ndje also had to turn aside just one shot propelled his way.
For the host Saints, keeper Matthew Solorio (L, 3-7-1) stopped 5 of 9 shots faced in almost 53 minutes of work. Harry Cooke came on in relief of Solorio for the final 37 minutes and allowed three goals on five shots.
HOW IT HAPPENED
18th Minute: STAC would be awarded a penalty kick when Kevon Evans was tripped up by goalie Matthew Solorio on a breakaway. Mika Leue would take the PK opportunity and send a soft, low shot to the back of the onion bag to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
34th Minute: Kevon Evans received a sideline pass from Francisco Degiorgi and raced in on goal, sending a hard, low shot past Solorio at the left post to double the STAC lead at 2-0.
38th Minute: Evans would once again factor in the scoring, as he would dance around several Saints defenders and send a through ball to Francisco Degiorgi. Degiorgi would then dribble though a few more D'Youville players and fire a high shot to the right corner of the net to push the maroon and gold advantage to 3-0.
48th Minute: Pushing the pace of play once again, Francisco Degiorgi would fire a shot on frame that would clang off the right goal post and ricochet back to the foot of Kevon Evans for the blast into the top, right corner of the net to make it 4-0 STAC.
62nd Minute: A takeaway by the Spartans led to a rush upfield by Jorge De La Vibora and Uhunoma Fredrick-Ilekhuoba. De La Vibora would send a soft feed over to Fredrick-Ilekhuoba for the low shot, which beat a diving Harry Cooke to extend the lead to 5-0.
66th Minute: The offensive onslaught continued by the maroon and gold, as Jorge De La Vibora found a wide open Santos Guerrero for a sure goal to put the match at 6-0.
90th Minute: On last rush by STAC in the final minute had Nico Gallegos send a through ball to a breaking Sebastian Ortega for the final tally of the day to make it 7-0.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- St. Thomas Aquinas outshot D'Youville 25-11, with the Spartans putting the ball on frame 14 times and the Saints reaching the goal just twice.
- STAC earned a slim 4-3 advantage on corner kicks over D'Youville.
- Kevon Evans registered a match-high six shots, with five going on frame.
- Evans now has a team-leading eight goals on the season (Fourth in ECC).
- The East Coast Conference Men's Soccer playoffs get underway with First Round action on Wednesday, November 5.
UP NEXT
STAC hosts Mercy University on Wednesday, October 22 at Spartan Field. Kickoff between the Spartans and Mavericks is scheduled for noon in Sparkill.