LAST-MINUTE GOAL SENDS STAC TO 2-1 EDGING OF MEN’S SOCCER

Box Score vs. STAC - October 3, 2009

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Oct. 3, 2009) – Deadlocked at 1-up with 1:33 to go in regulation, junior midfielder Renan Lopes (Hillside, N.J.) scored the game-winning goal for St. Thomas Aquinas to lead the Spartans to a 2-1 victory versus the Molloy College men’s soccer team on Saturday afternoon at the Dean G. Skelos Sports Complex in Rockville Centre, N.Y. The Lions have now lost two straight, and went to 3-5-1 overall. They are also 0-1 against East Coast Conference opposition.

On the deciding tally, Lopes sent a free kick from the top of the box into the left corner of the netting. Freshman forward Daniel Dayren (Pearl River, N.Y.) reached the scoreboard first in the 26th-minute for the Spartans (4-4-1, 1-0 ECC) when a long throw-in deflected off of a Molloy defenseman, and inside the post. Senior forward John-Paul Hughes (Manchester, England) tied the game for the Lions though in the 82nd-minute. He put a ball off a corner kick beyond the hands of STAC sophomore netminder Nicholas Croce (Mahopac, N.Y.).

In net, Croce turned aside a game-high five shots for the Spartans. As for the Lions, freshman Michael Hunter (Mineola, N.Y.) made his first collegiate start, and had two saves. Molloy also had a 16-9 advantage in shots, and an 8-4 edge in corner kicks. Freshman forward Tyler De La Torre (Valley Stream, N.Y.) attempted four shots, while Hughes took three shots.

Head Coach Danny Longo and the Lions return to the field this Tuesday when they open up a three-game road trip in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. at ECC nemesis Mercy College. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m.