SPARKILL, N.Y. – The Holy Family University men's lacrosse team scored the final three goals to defeat St. Thomas Aquinas 16-13 in its non-confernece finale on Wednesday afternoon.
After the Spartans used back-to-back goals to tie it at 13 with 6:48 remaining,
Noah Simpson (Oshawa, Ontario/Henry Street) netted twice just in the span of just 1:02, including 51 seconds after the equalizer.
James Demakopoulos (Carle Place, N.Y./Carle Place) then made three saves in the span of 1:30, before
Xander Kelly (Shohola, Pa./Delaware Valley) closed out the scoring on
Jaelin Benson's (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern) first career assist.
Individual Highlights
- Simpson led all players with a season-best six goals, adding an assist, while matching Jackson Brown (Cape May, N.J./Lower Cape May) with a team-high six ground balls, season-bests for both
- Jake Feeney (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern) and James Bienia (East Moriches, N.Y./Westhampton Beach) both had six points, a career-best for the latter, with Feeney posting a team-high three assists and Bienia scoring four times
- Bradley Smith (Egg Harbor Township, N.J./Egg Harbor Township) led the Tigers with three caused turnovers, tying a season-best, while Jayden Williams (Mays Landing, N.J./Atlantic County Institute of Technology) had a team-high nine faceoffs
- James Demakopoulos (Carle Place, N.Y./Carle Place) made seven saves in the win
Inside the Box Score
- Holy Family outshot STAC 43-27, despite the Spartans holding a 9-23 edge in faceoffs
How it Happened
- Both teams began the game with a run of four goals, before Feeney put HFU on top 5-4 with three seconds left in the first quarter
- That began a 5-1 surge that ended with another Feeney score making it 9-5 just 4:41 into the second
- There were eight goals in the opening 5:46 of the period and none in the final 9:13, as a Simpson tally made it 10-7 at the break
- St. Thomas Aquinas netted four of the five goals in the third, tying it up at 11-11 42 seconds ahead of the final quarter
- Bienia began the fourth with back-to-back scores, the second with 9:40 remaining, before the Spartans tied it once again
Up Next
HFU is back on the road on Saturday, returning to Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) play with a 3 p.m. start at Chestnut Hill.