Sparkill, NY - Felician battled until the final whistle but fell just short in a 13-12 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas on Thursday afternoon at Spartan Field.
The Golden Falcons came out strong offensively, scoring five goals in the opening quarter behind a balanced attack.
Alyssa Tropeano and
Mary Gazaleh each found the net early, while
Kayla Fox gave Felician its first lead midway through the period. Tropeano added a man-up goal to push the advantage to 5-3 before St. Thomas Aquinas closed the quarter on a 4-0 run to take a 7-5 lead.
Felician continued to fight in the second quarter, with Fox,
Gabby Sammarco, and
Mackenzie Fox all scoring to help tie the game at 8-8. However, St. Thomas Aquinas answered late to take a 10-8 edge into halftime.
The Golden Falcons surged again in the third, as Gazaleh and Fox helped erase the deficit. A man-up goal from Fox tied the game at 10-10, and later,
Madison Cancela and Fox combined to even the score once more at 12-12 with under three minutes remaining in the period.
St. Thomas Aquinas responded with what proved to be the game-winning goal with 1:48 left in the third, and both defenses held firm through a scoreless fourth quarter. Felician generated several late chances, including a free-position attempt in the closing seconds, but could not find the equalizer.
Kayla Fox led the Golden Falcons with four goals, while Tropeano, Gazaleh, and Cancela each added two. Tropeano and
Aly Amadruto paced the team with two assists apiece, and goalkeeper
Natalia Ogando recorded six saves in the effort.
Felician showed resilience throughout, matching St. Thomas Aquinas goal-for-goal for much of the contest and capitalizing on multiple man-up opportunities, but ultimately came up one goal short in a tightly contested matchup.
