Sparkill, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Women's Lacrosse team suffered its third straight defeat, falling to Chestnut Hill College, 11-5 on Wednesday afternoon at Spartan Field.

Junior Hailey Galison led the Spartans by recording a hat-trick and adding an assist, while junior McKenzie Schlechtweg and sophomore Laura Hazelton each added a goal in the contest. Chestnut Hill was led by Danielle Vassallo who netted five goals and added two helpers for seven points in the victory, and Madyson Schwartz who registered four goals on the afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Chestnut Hill tallied a pair of goals in a two minute span, late in the first quarter, with Rexney Thenor and Danielle Vassallo each finding the back of the cage to make it 2-0 in favor of the visitors.
• Hailey Galison scored her first of the afternoon with less than 90 seconds remaining in the first quarter to cut the deficit in half at 2-1.
• The Griffins stuck early in the second quarter, as Danielle Vassallo netted her second of the day with the assist going to her sister Frances Vassallo to expand the lead to 3-1.
• Madyson Schwartz then put Chestnut Hill up by three goals, just two minutes later, by taking a pass from Frances Vassallo and putting a shot behind Spartans goalie Colleen Stevens to make it 4-1.
• STAC made it a 4-2 game with just over five minutes to play before halftime when Hailey Galison struck again, this time on a feed by teammate Arianna Tribble while the maroon and gold were shorthanded.
• After the break, it would be St. Thomas Aquinas who would get the second-half scoring started, when Laura Hazelton sent a shot past Griffins netminder Mel Amador to get the maroon and gold within one at 4-3 with more than 14 minutes to play in the third quarter.
• Unfortunately, Chestnut Hill went on the attack and scored five straight goals, as Frances Vassallo, Danielle Vassallo (2) and Madyson Schwartz (2) all tallied markers over a ten minute span to give the Griffins a comfortable 9-3 advantage through 45 minutes of action.
• In the final stanza, Hailey Galison started things off by picking up her third of the game get the Spartans back within five, 9-4.
• Madyson Schwartz then scored her fourth on the day to put the margin back to six (10-4).
• STAC's final goal came via McKenzie Schlechtweg on a pass from Galison to make it a 10-5 game with less than five minutes to play in regulation.
• Danielle Vassallo added one final goal for the road, as she tallied her fifth of the afternoon in the closing minutes of the contest to finalize the score at 11-5.

 INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• STAC tallied 15 shots on goal, with Hailey Galison registering six shots on net and McKenzie Schlechtweg recording four shots.
• Galison and Arianna Tribble scooped up four ground balls apiece, with Schlechtweg, Samantha Cerrato, Rachael Paraskos and Katelyn Cerrato grabbing three each. 
• Katelyn Cerrato led St. Thomas Aquinas with four draw controls.
• Colleen Stevens (L, 0-3) made six stops on 17 shots faced for the Spartans.

UP NEXT

St. Thomas Aquinas College (0-3) starts a four-game road trip, visiting Southern New Hampshire University on Friday, March 3. The opening draw between the Spartans and Penmen is set for 1:00 p.m. at Ouellette Stadium in Hooksett, N.H.