Riverdale, N.Y. (October 15, 2006)- On Senior Day at Gaelic Park, the Manhattan men's soccer team honored its eight seniors prior to the game, then went out and defeated local and MAAC rival Iona, 3-1, this morning. The Jaspers ended a two-game losing streak to the Gaels in the final home game of the season.
Manhattan got on the board first, scoring at the 24:32 mark. Senior
Justin Schultz fed fellow senior
Mike Barbuto, who found
Tony Safran just inside the area. Safran blasted a shot past Iona goalkeeper Nils Binstock to give the Jaspers a 1-0 lead.
The Jaspers would carry that lead into halftime, holding a 10-2 advantage in shots in the opening stanza.
The Gaels would even the score at 1-1 at the 62:11 mark, when Giovanni Destasio took a pass from Tom Orbacz and found the back of the net.
Just over seven minutes later, Manhattan would regain the lead for good. On a restart, senior
Bryan Knight served the ball into the area, but the ball caromed off the head of a Gael into the net for an own goal, giving the Jaspers a 2-1 lead at the 69:57 mark.
Freshmen
James Gannon and
Paul Rolston would team up to provide an insurance goal with just under a minute to play as Rolston fed to a streaking Gannon, who received the ball behind the Iona back line, deked the Gael net minder, and calmly deposited the ball into the back of the net for his first collegiate goal.
John Ciano was forced to make just one save on the day for his third win in net. Binstock recorded five saves for Iona.
Manhattan returns to action on Sunday, October 22, when the Jaspers travel to Jersey City, N.J. to take on MAAC foe Saint Peter's at 1:00 p.m.
