SPARKILL, N.Y. – Sophomore
Anthony Gadaleta (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) had the best offensive day of his career on Saturday, totaling six points to lead the Pace University men's lacrosse team to a non-conference victory at Saint Thomas Aquinas College (STAC). The Setters improve to 5-2 on the year, while the Spartans fall to 0-6.
Gadaleta scored a career-high five times on Saturday, and added an assist to reach a new personal-best total of six points. He scored his final three goals consecutively early on in the third quarter to help Pace break away from its host. Gadaleta also picked up a ground ball and caused a turnover in the win.
STAC came out strong as they scored the first goal of the game a minute in, but Gadaleta answered back with two-straight goals at the 9:49 and 8:44 marks, giving Pace the 2-1 advantage. Thomas Holloway later netted a goal to tie the game, but freshman
Kevin Vogelsberg (Wantagh, NY/Holy Trinity Diocesan) scored off a feed from sophomore
Liam Brennan (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman) for a man-up goal two minutes later to give the Setters a 3-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Junior
Peter Sharp (Airmont, NY/Suffern) scored an unassisted goal a little over three minutes into the second period, followed by another unassisted netter from freshman
Bradley Paterson (Caldwell, NJ/Depaul Catholic) at the 9:55 mark. STAC's Joseph Nyemchek scored the last goal of the first half with 3:45 remaining to leave Pace up, 5-3, heading into the break.
The Setters took full control of the game in the third quarter. Gadaleta scored three consecutive goals less than four minutes in, as Pace took an 8-3 lead over the Spartans. At the 6:32 mark, Gadaleta assisted senior
Matthew Cossidente (Port Jefferson Station, NY/Comsewogue) for another score. A little over two minutes later, Paterson fired in his second goal of the game. STAC scored a goal with 2:37 left in the third, but the Setters headed into the final frame of regulation with a 10-4 edge over the Spartans.
Paterson picked it up where he left off at the end of the third and netted the first goal of the fourth quarter. After more than seven minutes of scoreless play, STAC managed to score its fifth goal, but freshman
Daniel O'Brien (Binghamton, NY/Seton Catholic Central) answered back and launched a goal in with 4:25 remaining. Senior
Tyler Meigel (Centereach, NY/Centereach) netted the final Pace goal with 2:32 to play. Hollway scored one more time for STAC with 16 seconds left, but Pace held on for a seven-goal win.
Sophomore goalkeeper
Robert Beshlian (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) improved to 5-2 after stopping four shots for the win. STAC's Ryan Mello took the loss, but made 22 saves.
Paterson finished with three goals and picked up a team-high four groundballs, while Brennan handed out a game-best three assists. Vogelsberg scored once and assisted two more for a three-point day of his own. Senior
Matt Ruquet (Rocky Point, NY/Rocky Point / Manhattan College) won an outstanding 19-of-21 face-offs (90.5 percent). Junior
Jeremy Wiley (Port Jefferson Station, NY/Comsewogue) caused three turnovers and grabbed two ground balls.
Holloway tallied a team-high four points on three goals and an assist for STAC. Nyemchek and Kevin Alvaro each scored a goal, while Ryan Mello scooped up a team-best four groundballs.
The Setters will host American International College for a Northeast-10 Conference contest at Pace Stadium on Tuesday, March 29. The opening face-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
For all information regarding Pace University men's lacrosse, log on to
www.PaceUAthletics.com, follow Pace Athletics on Facebook (
T-Bone, Official Mascot of Pace University Athletics), and follow the men's lacrosse team on Twitter (
@PaceLacrosse) and on Instagram (
@PaceUnivLax).
