The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Soccer team takes the #3 seed into Wednesday's East Coast Conference Championship Tournament, hosting #6 Molloy University in a First Round match at Spartan Field in Sparkill, with kickoff scheduled for noon.
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How They Got Here - St. Thomas Aquinas wrapped up the regular season with an overall record of 6-7-2 and a 5-3-0 mark in conference action, securing the #3 seed in the ECC Tournament. STAC will make its first postseason appearance under the direction of second year head coach Edison Sanchez Aviles. In its first eight games, the Spartans went 4-2-2, before going 2-5-0 in its final seven contests.
Molloy closed its regular season at 3-6-7 overall and 2-1-5 in ECC play. The Lions opened the 2025 campaign going 1-3-4 over its first eight games, but then went 2-3-3 in their final eight matches to secure the sixth and final spot in the postseason.
The Match-Up - In the lone meeting of the season to date, STAC took a 4-2 decision over Molloy on October 4 (recap, boxscore, video) at the RVC Sports Complex in Rockville Centre, New York. The high-paced, physical affair featured a pair goals by Guilherme Alegria and tallies from teammates Jorge De La Vibora and Francisco Degiorgi for the Spartans, along with a pair of goals by the Lions Danu Kinsella Bishop. In between the sticks, Dante Muntane turned aside four of six shots faced, with Callum Hunt stopping four of eight shots fired his way.
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13th Minute: A through ball from midfield by Guilherme Alegria found a partially breaking Jorge De La Vibora for the blast from the top of the box, beating Callum Hunt to make it 1-0 STAC.
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26th Minute: An offensive rush by the Spartans saw De La Vibora slide a pass to teammate Guilherme Alegria for the high, rising shot past Hunt at the left post to double the visitor's lead at 2-0.
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30th Minute: Another offensive push by the maroon and gold allowed Niek de Jong to fire off an initial shot that was saved by a diving Hunt, but the rebound kicked loose to Francisco Degiorgi for a bouncing shot into the goal at the right post to give STAC a commanding 3-0 advantage.
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58th Minute: Molloy finally got onto the scoreboard, as Aidan Kolbe sent a cross from the right side into the box and off of the foot of teammate Danu Kinsella Bishop past Dante Muntane to make it a 3-1 contest.
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72nd Minute: The Lions cut their deficit to one on a misplay by STAC keeper Dante Muntane, with Matt Star sending a pass from midfield to Danu Kinsella Bishop for the 3-2 goal.
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73rd Minute: STAC responded immediately with Francisco Degiorgi dancing around several Lions defenders and finding Guilherme Alegria with a soft floating pass which was booted home for the insurance goal to make it 4-2.
Players to Watch - The Spartans were among the best offensive teams in the conference (2nd - 33 Goals For), led by Kevon Evans with eight goals and six assists for 22 points, Jorge De La Vibora with five goals and four assists for 14 points and Uhunoma Fredrick-Ilekhuoba with four goals and two assists for 10 points. Meanwhile in goal, Dante Muntane posted a 5-5-2 record with a 1.77 goals against average and a .744 save percentage. Muntane also recorded three solo clean sheets and shared one with fellow netminder Ryan-Robert Ndje.
The Lions struggled to score goals this season, placing seventh in the ECC with 20 total goals for, and were led by Danu Kinsella with 13 goals and an assist for 27 points and Aidan Kolbe with two goals and two assists for six points. Goalkeeper Callum Hunt went 3-5-7 on the year, with a 1.27 goals against average and a .740 save percentage. He also blanked opponents on four occasions.
What's Next? - Wednesday's other First Round matchup sees #4 seeded Mercy University (7-5-5, 3-1-4) hosting #5 University of the District of Columbia (8-3-4, 3-2-3) in 1 p.m. start in Dobbs Ferry. The winners of the First Round matches will advance to the Tournament Semifinal games on Saturday, November 8, at the higher seeds Roberts Wesleyan University (3 p.m.) and Queens College (7 p.m.).
Live Video/Stats - The First Round match between the Spartans and Lions will be broadcast LIVE via the ECC Network - Powered By Flo College with veteran play-by-play voice Marc Ernay bringing fans all of the action from Spartan Field. Real-time Statistics will also be available at STACAthletics.com.
TICKET INFORMATION
*ALL SPECTATORS MUST HAVE A TICKET TO GAIN ACCESS TO SPARTAN FIELD*
$10 - General Admission
$5 - Students with ID, Senior Citizens, Children Ages 5-14
Free - First 50 STAC Students & Staff (With Valid STAC ID) - On A First Come, First Serve Basis
Children Under 5 are Free
* Tickets must be purchased at the link above. Cash will not be accepted so walkup tickets at the venue must be purchased through the ECC website (QR code will be available at the gate).