Sparkill, N.Y. - Joseph Casarella tallied a hat-trick, including the eventual game-winner midway through the fourth quarter, as the St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Lacrosse team held on to win a wild non-conference tilt against Felician University, 8-7 on Tuesday afternoon at Spartan Field.

STAC improves to 3-7 on the season, while Felician slips back to the .500 mark at 3-3.

The aforementioned Joseph Casarella led the Spartans' offense on the day with three goals and an assist, while teammates Michael Huff (1 goal, 3 assists), Reno Molina (1 goal), John Pena (1 goal), Jeremy Schucker (1 goal) and Ryan Christensen (1 goal) added to the totals on the scoreboard for the maroon and gold. Goalie Craig Peavy (W, 3-7) got the start between the pipes for STAC and was stellar, stopping 15 of 22 shots faced to pick up this third win in ten tries.

Meanwhile, Felician was led by Finn Crocker, who tallied two goals and an assist, while Ethan Todner added a pair of goals for the Golden Falcons. Liam Dunn (1 goal), Jayden Rios (1 goal) and Joe Bouab (1 goal) also scored goals for the visitors from New Jersey. Goalie Nick Grebe (L, 3-3) made 12 saves on the afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• STAC opened Wednesday's contest with three straight goals in a three minute span, as Reno Molina, John Pena and Michael Huff all found the back of the net with their shots to give the hosts a quick 3-0 advantage.
• Felician answered the bell with a tally of their own, courtesy of Ethan Todner, to break the shutout and make it 3-1.
• Seconds later Ryan Christensen scored the final goal of the stanza to put the Spartans back up by three at 4-1.
• Joseph Casarella opened the scoring in the second quarter with his first of the afternoon, an extra-man tally, to give STAC a 5-1 advantage.
• Back-to-back goals by Liam Dunn and Jayden Rios in the final five minutes of the frame cut the Golden Falcons deficit to 5-3 as the teams retreated to their respective sidelines for the halftime break.
• When the teams returned to the field for third quarter action, it would be Felician who would put pressure on the Spartans with a quick strike by Finn Crocker to make it 5-4 with 12 and a half minutes to play in the stanza.
• Another Joseph Casarella tally would put St. Thomas Aquinas back up by two, 6-4.
• The visitors would then score consecutive goals via Ethan Todner and Joe Bouab to send the teams to the final period with game tied at 6-6.
• STAC came out of the gates in the final frame looking to regain their advantage and did just that with goals from Jeremy Schucker and Joseph Casarella midway through the stanza to put the maroon and gold back up by a pair, 8-6.
• In the final four minutes, Felician would put on a furious rally attempt, getting a goal back on a Finn Crocker score to make it an 8-7 game.
• The final minutes of the match would be helter skelter, with both sides turning the ball over on multiple occasions. However, Spartans goalie Craig Peavy would stand tall and make key saves to keep his team in the lead until the final buzzer.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: 

• STAC outshot Felician 43-42 (20-22 on goal) for the game.
• Joseph Casarella tallied a game-high 13 shots, with seven going on net for St. Thomas Aquinas.
• James Staeckeler and Reno Molina each gathered six of the Spartans 41 ground balls.
• Staeckeler also caused four Golden Falcons turnovers on the afternoon.
• STAC won 9 of 18 faceoffs, with Austin Palen accounting for all of the maroon and gold draws.

UP NEXT:

STAC hosts D'Youville University on Sunday, March 24, in an ECC match that gets underway at 1:00 p.m. at Spartan Field in Sparkill.