Hammersley logged six saves, including four in the first half, for the Skyhawks (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Hammersley posts six saves, Skyhawks outshoot Spartans 11-4 in second half

SPARKILL, N.Y. (September 2, 2021) – Saint Thomas Aquinas College rode a first half goal to a 1-0 victory over Stonehill College in the non-conference season-opener for both at Spartan Field this afternoon. 

Scoring

STAC: Joel Hofstetter (16')
Assists: Anthony Sanchez (16')

Goalkeeping
Stonehill: Andrew Hammersley (90:00) 6 saves
STAC: Asier Vegas (90:00) 6 saves 

More Stats
Shots: Stonehill 15, STAC 10
Corners: Stonehill 5, STAC 2

How it Happened

• Sophomore Joel Hofstetter netted the lone goal of the match off a free kick 15:13 into the contest and Saint Thomas Aquinas made it stand to claim the season-opening victory.
• Freshman Cole Allen served up the free kick just inside the halfway line on the left channel to the far post that was headed back across the goal by senior Anthony Bolivar Sanchez and then knocked in at the left post by Hofstetter in his STAC debut.
• After being edged by STAC 6-4 in shots over the first 45 minutes, Stonehill turned up the pressure in the second and posted an 11-4 shot advantage to finish on top of a 15-10 margin for the contest.
• Senior Asier Vegas made five of his six saves in the second half to preserve the shutout in his STAC debut.
• Junior Andrew Hammersley stood tall in goal for Stonehill, finishing with six stops, including four over the opening 45 to give the Skyhawks a chance at erasing the early STAC marker.
• Stonehill placed two shots on target in the closing minutes, but Vegas was able to stop both. Sophomore Jacob Woznicki had the first bid off a corner by classmate Shon Ryan in the 82^nd minute, before Ryan was halted by Vegas in the 84^th.
• Ryan and senior Ian Pereira also had shots in the final ten minutes for the Skyhawks in the push to level and force overtime.

Noteworthy

• Hammersley made his 15^th career start in two Stonehill seasons on the pitch, posting five saves or more for the 14^th time in 16 career matches played.
• Senior captains Eben Degbor and Luke Fuller buoyed a Stonehill defense that limited STAC to just four shots after the intermission and ten overall. They were joined by Ryan, junior Aidan O'Sullivan and sophomore Ekrem Hadzic in the backline effort.
• Woznicki and Ryan paced four from Stonehill with three shots in the match, placing two each on target.

Up Next

Stonehill (0-1-0, 0-0-0 NE10) is right back in action on Saturday, when it hosts Dominican (N.Y.) College for a non-conference home opener at Skyhawk Field at 2 p.m. STAC (1-0-0, 0-0-0 ECC) hosts NE10 member Saint Michael's College on Sunday at 10 a.m.

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