Wilmington, Del. - Despite a late second half rally, the St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Soccer team dropped a 4-3 decision to Wilmington University (Del.) on Saturday afternoon at the WU Athletics Complex.

STAC falls to 1-2-1 on the season, while Wilmington remains perfect at 3-0-1.

Michiharu Takanashi tallied a pair of goals for the Wildcats, while Alex Tarway and Jhamaleek Porter also scored. Goalkeeper Emil Lollike got the start in net for Wilmington and turned away two of three shots faced, before Will Kiers (W, 1-0-0) came on in relief in the second half and stopped two of four shots fired his way to earn his first victory of the campaign.

Meanwhile, Kevon Evans struck for two goals, while Peter Yaro chipped in one of his own for the visiting Spartans. Keeper Dante Muntane (L, 1-2-1) made nine stops on 13 shots for St. Thomas Aquinas.

HOW IT HAPPENED

2nd Minute: A stolen pass by Mika Leue at midfield led to a through ball which found the feet of teammate Kevon Evans for a partial breakaway and a shot that found the back of the net to make it 1-0 STAC.

3rd Minute: Alex Tarway set up the equalizer for Wilmington just a minute later, cutting inside from the right sideline. He feathered an inside pass to Michiharu Takanashi into the box, where he beat goalkeeper Dante Muntane inside the near post

6th Minute: Takanashi was quickly at it again, racing on to a through ball down the left side by Jacques Mason. Takanashi drew Muntane out and slid it underneath of him, hitting the inside of the far post to put the Wildcats ahead 2-1.

13th Minute: Alex Tarway forced a turnover on the backline, leading to another goal for the Wilmington. He poked the ball loose and then Michiharu Takanashi made a sliding pass that sprung Tarway free down the middle. He beat Muntane low and to his right, giving the Wildcats a 3-1 lead.

48th Minute: An offensive rush by the Spartans allowed Mika Leue to chip a short pass to Peter Yaro for the blast past Will Kiers to cut the deficit to 3-2.

69th Minute: Wilmington converted on an attempt, cashing in on a perfectly weighted ball from Tyrese Small. His pass over top of the back line allowed Jhamaleek Porter to run onto it and easily beat the goalkeeper one-on-one to make it a two-goal match again at 4-2.

80th Minute: Dante Muntane's defensive clear found the head of Uhunoma Fredrick-Ilekhuoba for the flick to a breaking Kevon Evans who blew past his defenders and the goalie for an easy empty net goal to make it a 4-3 game.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Wilmington outshot St. Thomas Aquinas, 21-14 with the Wildcats putting the ball on frame 13 times and the Spartans reaching the goal eight times.
• STAC earned a 10-2 advantage on corner kicks over Wilmington.
• Kevon Evans registered a team-high five shots, with three going on goal.
• The teams were whistled for 20 total fouls (11-9 Wilmington) and eight total yellow cards (four apiece).

UP NEXT

St. Thomas Aquinas returns to the Spartan Field on Wednesday, September 17 to face East Stroudsburg University in a 3:00 p.m. non-conference tilt.