Rutherford, N.J. - Seven straight second half goals propelled the St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Lacrosse team to a 12-6 triumph over Felician University on Thursday evening at Tryon Field.

STAC picks up its first victory of the 2023 season to move to 1-1, while Felician slips to 1-3 on the year.

Sophomore John Pena led the Spartans by recording four goals and adding an assist, while freshman Ryan Christensen picked up a hat-trick and a helper. Freshman Matthew DeRosa (2 goals), graduate student Steven Apicella (1 goal), junior Reno Molina (1 goal) and junior Braiden Struss (1 goal) provided additional offense for the maroon and gold in the contest. Felician was led by Jayden Basalatan who netted three goals on the evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• STAC opened the scoring, three and a half minutes into the game, when Steven Apicella took a pass from Michael Huff and sent it to the back of the cage to make it 1-0.
• Back-to-back goals by Felician put them up 2-1, as Jayden Basalatan and Alfonso Guerrero beat Spartans' netminder Craig Peavy.
• Ryan Christensen's first of the evening, would be the start of three straight tallies by the maroon and gold. Christensen beat Nick Grebe with a little over a minute to play in the stanza to square things at 2-2.
• A pair of goals by John Pena led off second quarter action, including a strike with a Golden Falcon's player in the penalty box, which put STAC back on top at 4-2.
• Felician matched the Spartans offensive output with three straight goals of their own, as Robert Grasso, Jayden Basalatan and Jabes Escalante put shots to the back of the net to flip the scoreboard in favor of the hosts with 1:10 to play in the frame.
• However, another John Pena tally, this one for the hat-trick, evened the score at 5-5 just before the halftime break.
• When the teams returned to the field for the new half, St. Thomas Aquinas' offense took over the match, scoring three of seven straight goals in the third quarter. Ryan Christensen, Braiden Struss and Matthew DeRosa struck for goals to put the Spartans up 8-5 through 45 minutes of action.
• The scoring streak continued for STAC in the fourth quarter, as John Pena tallied his fourth of the contest, Ryan Christensen picked up his own hatty, Reno Molina, and Matthew DeRosa all lit the lamp to extend the visitor's lead to 12-5.
• Jayden Basalatan picked up his third goal of the night in the closing minute of the match, making it 12-6, but time would not be on Felician's side as the maroon and gold closed things out to earn the non-conference win.

 INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• STAC tallied 26 shots on goal, with Ryan Christensen registering eight shots on net and John Pena recording five shots on frame.
• Daniel Smith scooped up six ground balls, with James Staeckeler, Craig Peavy and Ryan Christensen grabbing four each. 
• Joseph Longobardo won 5-of-9 faceoffs for St. Thomas Aquinas.
• Craig Peavy (W, 1-1) made 13 stops on 19 shots faced for the Spartans. Connor Reed came on late in the contest in relief of Peavy, stopping the only shot he faced.

UP NEXT

STAC continues its three-game road trip, visiting the University of Bridgeport on Sunday, March 5, with the opening faceoff set for 12:00 p.m. in Connecticut.