Sparkill, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Women's Lacrosse team saw its fourth quarter rally fall short in a 12-8 setback to Holy Family University on Thursday afternoon at Spartan Field.

STAC slips to 3-5 on the season, while Holy Family picks up its first win of the campaign and moves to 1-7.

Olivia Cerbo led the Spartans' offense with three goals and an assist on the afternoon, while McKenzie Schlechtweg, Ella Entress, Katelyn Cerrato, Brianna Meuse and Arianna Tribble all tallied a goal apiece. Goalie Lilah Magenheimer (L, 3-5) got the start between the pipes for the maroon and gold and stopped 8 of 20 shots faced.

Meanwhile, Holy Family was paced by Maura Kilkenny with five goals and an assist. Tori Wolstenholme added three goals, while Rianna Shields tallied two goals and a helper. Teammates Julia Gallardo (1 goal) and Payton Pugh (1 goal) also added to the totals for the Tigers. Goalie Olivia Kueny (W, 1-7) made 12 saves to help secure the victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Holy Family opened the scoring with three straight goals courtesy of Payton Pugh, Julia Gallardo and Tori Wolstenholme to make it 3-0 for the visitors just six minutes into the match.
• Moments following a STAC timeout, Arianna Tribble got the maroon and gold on the scoreboard with a goal, to cut the deficit to 3-1.
• Maura Kilkenny answered the Spartans tally with her first of the afternoon to push the Tigers lead back to three, 4-1.
• A pair of goals by Ella Entress and Brianna Meuse got St. Thomas Aquinas back within one at 4-3 with just under four minutes to play in the frame.
• Holy Family made it 5-3 on another tally from Maura Kilkenny, before McKenzie Schlechtweg brought the score back to a one-goal deficit at 5-4, with a strike of her own.
• Rianna Shields closed the quarter with a goal in the final seconds to increase the Tigers lead to 6-4 through 15 minutes of play.
• Olivia Cerbo opened the second stanza with a free-position goal, her first tally of the day to make it a 6-5 game.
• However, Holy Family would find the back of the cage four consecutive times before the halftime break to balloon their lead to 10-5, as Tori Wolstenholme (2), Maura Kilkenny and Rianna Shields all added to the stat sheet with goals.
• When the teams returned to the field for third quarter action, Olivia Cerbo would be the only one to tally a goal in the stanza to make it a 10-6 Holy Family advantage, with one quarter left to play.
• Cerbo picked up a hat-trick in the first two minutes of the final frame, while also narrowing the Tigers lead to just three at 10-7 with 12:50 still to play in regulation.
• Any Spartans momentum was snuffed out with back-to-back goals from Maura Kilkenny midway through the final quarter to increase Holy Family's advantage to five at 12-7.
• In the final 70 seconds, Katelyn Cerrato would add a man-down goal to bring STAC within four, but the visitors from the City of Brotherly Love ran out the clock to earn their first win of the season.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• STAC outshot Holy Family 30-24 (20-20 on goal) for the match.
• Olivia Cerbo tallied a game-high eight shots (five on goal) for the Spartans.
• Hailey Galison gathered 10 of the Spartans 45 ground balls in Thursday's contest.
• McKenzie Schlechtweg caused three of the Tigers turnovers on the day.
• Holy Family won 14 of 23 draw controls, with Hailey Gailson controlling three draws for the maroon and gold.

UP NEXT:

STAC visits Southern Connecticut State University on Saturday, March 23, with the opening draw between the Spartans and Owls set for 1:00 p.m. at Jess Dow Field in New Haven, Connecticut.