Amherst, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Soccer team opened conference play on Saturday afternoon with a 4-0 shutout victory over Daemen University at Royal Park in Western New York, with two goals in the first half and two in the second stanza.

STAC improves to 2-2-2 overall and 1-0-0 in ECC play, while Daemen slips to 1-6-0 and 0-1-0.

The Spartans received scoring from Kevon Evans, Uhunoma Fredrick-Ilekhuoba, Sebastian Ortega and Joaquim Cardoso, while goalkeeper Dante Muntane (W, 2-2-2) got the start for the maroon and gold and made five saves to earn his second shutout.

For the host Wildcats, keeper Dylan Delaney (L, 1-6-0) stopped 7 of 11 shots faced in a losing effort.

HOW IT HAPPENED

5th Minute: On a Spartans offensive rush, Francisco Degiorgi raced up the sideline and sent a floating pass across the box to the foot of leading scorer Kevon Evans for the high boot past Dylan Delaney at the left post for the 1-0 lead.

19th Minute: Yet another STAC rush upfield saw Kevon Evans make his way through several Wildcats defenders and send a short pass to a breaking Uhunoma Fredrick-Ilekhuoba for rocket of a shot past a diving Dylan Delaney to double the maroon and gold lead at 2-0.

66th Minute: A Daemen turnover, aided by a little STAC pressure, allowed Kevon Evans swipe the ball and send a pass up the middle and through the Wildcats defense to Sebastian Ortega for a right-footed soft shot by Dylan Delaney and to the back of the middle of the onion bag to give the Spartans a commanding 3-0 advantage.

74th Minute: The final goal of the match came via a corner kick, where Sebastian Ortega sent the ball to teammate Francisco Degiorgi and then received a return feed for a floating shot that found the head of Joaquim Cardoso for the ricochet goal to make it 4-0.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• St. Thomas Aquinas outshot Daemen, 20-13 with the Spartans putting the ball on frame 11 times and the Wildcats reaching the goal five times.
• STAC earned a 12-6 advantage on corner kicks over Daemen.
• Kevon Evans and Uhunoma Fredrick-Ilekhuoba registered a match-high five shots apiece, with three going on frame for Evans and two reaching the goal for Fredrick-Ilekhuoba.
• The teams were whistled for 18 total fouls (eight apiece) and four total yellow cards (two apiece).

UP NEXT

STAC hosts the University of the District of Columbia on Saturday, September 27 at Spartan Field. Kickoff between the Spartans and Firebirds is set for 2:00 p.m.