Sparkill, N.Y. - Leading by a pair of goals at halftime, the St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Lacrosse team was outscored by an 8-3 margin over the final 30 minutes of action to suffer a heartbreaking 13-10 defeat at the hands of the University of Bridgeport on Wednesday afternoon at Spartan Field.

STAC falls to 3-9 on the year, while Bridgeport improves to 7-5.

Nicola Greer, Liam Noseworthy (2 assists) and Nicholas Kostewicz led the Spartans' offense with three goals apiece on the afternoon, while Nathan Thomas added a goal of his own. Hayden Gaudette (L, 3-9) got the start in between the pipes for the maroon and gold and stopped 18 of 31 shots fired in his direction.

Meanwhile, Bridgeport was led by James Napoli, who tallied five goals and added an assist, while Darien Fray netted a hat trick and Luciano Canino scored a pair of goals. Ashton Lankowski (1 goal, 1 assist), Stephen Trama (1 goal) and Noah Beard (1 goal) added to the totals on the scoreboard for the Purple Knights. Goalie Matthew Hughes (W, 7-5) made 10 stops on 20 shots to earn the victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

The Spartans controlled the opening quarter, building a 5–3 lead behind a balanced offensive effort. Nicholas Kostewicz opened the scoring off a feed from Ethan Urbanski, and Liam Noseworthy added an early goal and later converted on a man-up opportunity. Nicola Greer also found the back of the net with a man-up tally, while Kostewicz struck again late in the quarter. Despite three unassisted goals from Bridgeport, including one from Darien Fray, STAC held a two-goal edge after one.

STAC extended its advantage in the second quarter, with Greer and Kostewicz each adding goals to push the lead to 7–4. Bridgeport responded with a pair of scores, including a buzzer-beater from James Napoli, trimming the Spartans' lead to 7–5 at halftime.

The game turned in the third quarter as Bridgeport erupted for six goals in a span of just over seven minutes. Fray completed his hat trick during the run, while Napoli fueled the surge with multiple goals, including a man-up finish. After Nathan Thomas briefly halted the run for STAC to make it 8–6, the Purple Knights rattled off five straight to take an 11–8 lead heading into the fourth.

Bridgeport added another early goal in the final quarter to extend the margin to four before Greer answered for the Spartans. A late tally from Luciano Canino pushed the lead to 13–9, and Noseworthy capped the scoring with a man-down goal in the final minute.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Bridgeport outshot STAC 53-29 (31-20 on goal) for the match.
• Nicholas Kostewicz tallied a team-high eight shots, with seven going on goal for St. Thomas Aquinas.
• Nicola Greer gathered six of the Spartans 33 ground balls.
• Tyler Shertzer caused a four Purple Knights turnovers on the afternoon.
• STAC won 11 of 26 faceoffs, with Vinny Rosario winning 7 of 14 draws and Austin Palen winning 4 of 12 battles in the circle.

UP NEXT:

STAC hosts the University of the District of Columbia in the team's regular season home finale on Saturday, April 11 at Spartan Field. Opening faceoff between the Spartans and Firebirds is scheduled for 2:30 p.m, with Senior Day festivities preceding the ECC matchup.