Waterbury, Conn. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Lacrosse teams tallied a pair of fourth quarter goals, but they would not be enough to rally against Post University, who took the match by the score of 9-7 on Wednesday afternoon at LaMoy Field.

STAC slips back to .500 on the season at 2-2, while Post improves to 3-2.

Junior Braiden Struss tallied three goals on the afternoon, while junior Michael Huff netted two goals. Freshman Jeremy Poggi and Sophomore Jeremy Schucker provided additional offense for the maroon and gold, with a goal apiece in the contest. Post was led by Braedan Lockyer, who scored four goals and added a helper in the contest.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Post opened the scoring with four-first quarter goals, as Hayden Hindman found the back of the cage, before Braeden Lockyer rattled off three straight to earn the natural hat-trick with four minutes to play in the opening stanza.
• Braiden Struss got the Spartans on the scoreboard, just seconds before the buzzer, with his first of the day to make it 4-1 Eagles after one.
• Braeden Lockyer kicked off second quarter action by firing a shot past STAC goalie Craig Peavy to increase the Post advantage to four at 5-1.
• The Spartans fought back with three consecutive goals over a five and a half minute span. Michael Huff, Jeremy Schucker and Braiden Struss all beat Post netminder Russell Robinson to bring the maroon and gold back within one, 5-4.
• A Hayden Hindman goal with seconds to play before halftime, allowed the Eagles to take a 6-4 lead into the locker room at the break.
• When the teams returned to the field for third quarter action, the hosts added yet another quick goal, with Dylan Heald netting his first of the game to put Post up by three, 7-4.
• Braiden Struss tallied is hat-trick goal late in the stanza to pull the Spartans back within two at 7-5.
• Dylan Heald and Leighton Cook struck for what would eventually be the game-winning goal and insurance marker, respectively to start the final quarter of play, and increase the Eagles' advantage to 9-5.
• STAC attempted to rally by first scoring in a man-up situation, as Michael Huff found the back of the cage to make it 9-6 with four plus minutes to play in regulation.
• Jeremy Poggi would then take a feed from Steven Apicella and tally a goal to cut it to 9-7 with just under 90 seconds left, setting the stage for a potential comeback.
• On the ensuing faceoff, Joseph Longobardo would snatch the ground ball from the opposition and was able to set up a pass to Michael Huff, which he fired on net, only to be saved by Post's Russell Robinson.
• Post gained possession and turned up field, but a turnover would give the Spartans one final possession. Reno Molina rifled another shot on net, which was stopped by Robinson to close out the game in favor of the hosts from Connecticut.

 INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• STAC tallied 15 shots on goal, with Braiden Struss registering four shots on net and Michael Huff recording three shots.
• Joseph Longobardo scooped up four ground balls, with James Staeckeler grabbing three. Staeckeler, Reno Molina, John Perry, Daniel Smith and Frank Schaefer caused a turnover apiece.
• Joseph Longobardo won 8-of-19 faceoffs for St. Thomas Aquinas.
• Craig Peavy (L, 1-2) made 9 stops on 18 shots faced for the Spartans. 

UP NEXT:

STAC returns to Spartan Field, facing off with Caldwell University on Saturday, March 11 at 1:00 p.m.