Sparkill, N.Y.- The Georgian Court University men's soccer team took to the road Thursday afternoon to kick off its 2016 slate as the Lions battled the Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas College in NCAA Division II competition.

GCU (0-1) did not get off to the start that it had hoped for as the visitors faltered, 2-0, in the non-conference contest. STAC, also playing its first game of the year, improves to 1-0 with the home victory.

The Spartans took an initial 1-0 lead at 41:04 when Christian Jones (So.-Windsor, England) connected on a Luis Morales (So.-Port Chester, N.Y.) feed from close range in front of the GCU net. An own-goal off a Georgian Court defender at 53:38 accounted for the second tally.

The Lions outshot the Spartans by a margin of 13-9, including a 7-6 advantage when it came to shots on frame, but GCU could not push one past goalkeeper, Jack Nicholson (So.- Totton Southampton, England), as he proved to be one of STAC's few good men with seven saves in 90:00.

Aleksander Milosevic collected four saves in the complete-game effort in net for Georgian Court.

GCU returns to action Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. when the Lions trek to the University of New Haven for another non-conference showdown.