Strong second half lifts STA over SCC

Published 12:00 am Friday, December 5, 2008

By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

St. Thomas Aquinas denied St. Charles its first win Wednesday, taking a 4-1 victory over the Comets in Lafayette.

St. Charles (0-5) led 1-0 early on, but STA answered with two goals before halftime — the last coming with one minute remaining.

But the size and depth of the Falcons (3-2-1) proved to be too much for SCC in the second half, as they tacked on two more goals to put thoughts of overtime out of the Comets’ reach.

“We played fairly well in the first half, but we came unglued in the second,” said SCC Coach Rick Woodroof. “They had too much depth for us as we got later in the game.”

St. Charles freshman Jimmy Antim scored the Comets’ lone goal.

St. Thomas Aquinas scored its third goal 20 minutes into the second half, giving STA a two score lead.

“That kind of sealed the deal,” Woodroof said.

Woodroof said in comparing the two teams, the biggest difference was experience — STA has a team laden with upperclassman, while the Comets are stacked with freshman and sophomores this season.

And with STA’s experience comes advantages in many tangible areas.

“There’s a four year difference between a lot of these guys,” Woodroof said. “It’s a tremendous difference in speed and physicality.”

Woodroof did note another strong game by one of those young players — sophomore goalkeeper Gian Grosso.

“He’s not that big, but we have some kids with a lot of heart. He’s one of them,” Woodroof said.