Philadelphia, Pa. (March 27, 2007)?Saint Joseph's University worked overtime to spoil Manhattan's fourth-quarter comeback and halt the Jaspers' four-game winning streak on Tuesday afternoon. With 2:04 remaining in the first extra session, SJU's Steve Varga sent the Hawks to a 9-8 conference victory.
Prior to Tuesday's setback, Manhattan had not lost a game since opening day when it fell at No. 14 Delaware.
Trailing 8-5 entering the final quarter of regulation, the Jaspers made a serious attempt at preserving the streak with senior Jeremy Marrano getting things started. With 12:25 left in regulation, Marrano beat reigining MAAC Defensive Player of the Week Erik Hotaling to bring Manhattan within two.
Only 1:05 later, the reigning MAAC Rookie of the Week freshman Matt Slane put one past Hotaling to cut the SJU lead to one. Senior Brian Murray, who was named the MAAC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, earned the assist on the play.
Murray also set up the equalizer as he got the ball to freshman Luke Dilillo who buried it into the back of the net for his second goal of the game with less than two minutes remaining.
Early on, Manhattan picked up right where it left off in Saturday's 22-goal offensive explosion at Virginia Military Institute. The Jaspers scored the first two goals of the game during a 51-second span. Sophomore Angelo Marrano drew first blood at the 12:17 mark, and junior Brian Wynne followed a goal of his own as he cashed in on senior Pat Canty's pass 3:34 into the contest.
With exactly nine minutes remaining in the opening period, Peter Slowik put Saint Joe's on the board and sparked a five-goal run which gave the Hawks a 5-2 lead at the break.
With the loss Manhattan drops to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in MAAC play. The Jaspers will play their conference home opener on Saturday, March 31 when they meet Siena College at Tappan Zee High School due to the renovations at Gaelic Park.
Notes
Sophomore goalie John Geagan made 16 saves, but took the loss in net... With a goal and three assists against the Hawks, Murray now leads the team with 13 goals and 13 assists thus far this season... the game marked Dilillo's second two-goal effort as the rookie also scored twice in Manhattan's win over CAA member Sacred Heart University.
