Orangeburg, N.Y. (April 14, 2007)? In recent years, the balance had tipped toward Mt. St. Mary's favor in regards to its MAAC rivalry with Manhattan Men's Lacrosse. The Mount had triumphed in the last three games of the series, including a 13-11 decision over the Jaspers in the 2005 MAAC Tournament semi-final. On Saturday afternoon, however, the Jaspers regained control with a 10-7 victory over Mt. St. Mary's at Tappan Zee Field.
With the win, Manhattan halted its four-game slide and evened its conference record at 2-2 to catapult the Jaspers into the middle of the MAAC Playoff race. Mt. St. Mary's, who was picked to finish in second place in the MAAC Pre-season Coaches Poll, slipped to 1-3 in league play.
Manhattan utilized a balanced scoring attack on the afternoon as eight different Jaspers beat Mt. St. Mary's goalie Joe Zolezzi, who made 11 saves in suffering the loss.
Earning his fifth start of the season, junior Brian Wynne was the first Jasper to put one past Zolezzi when he tied the game at 1-1 with 8:00 remaining in the first quarter.
Following Wynne's first tally of the contest, neither team managed to score for the next 10-plus minutes until Wynne struck again. The junior boosted Manhattan to a 2-1 lead with his fifth goal of the season at the 12:37 mark of the second quarter.
Senior Brian Murray added to his team-leading goal total when he extended the advantage to 3-1 with 7:14 remaining before the break. The goal was Murray's 19th of his senior campaign.
After scoring was at a premium in the first half, which saw Manhattan build a 3-1 lead, the two offenses combined for 10 goals in the third quarter.
The Jaspers netted the first two scores of the second half, compliments of sophomore Marc LaBelle and Murray, to open up a 5-1 lead with 11:05 remaining in the third period.
Only 23 seconds after Murray's 20th goal of the season, the Mountaineers' Ben Mundorf put one past Manhattan sophomore goalie John Geagan, making the score 5-2 with 10:42 to go in the third. Geagan, who earned his fourth win of the season in net, made 15 saves.
Manhattan's Marrano brothers provided a quick answer to Mundorf's goal as the senior-sophomore tandem scored only 50 seconds apart to give the Jaspers their biggest lead of the game at 7-2. Senior Jeremy Marrano struck first when he cashed in off of Murray's pass at the 10:19 mark. Angelo Marrano, a sophomore, needed no help, scoring an unassisted goal with 9:29 to play in the third quarter.
The Mount pulled within 7-4 on Mundorf's second goal of the quarter and Joe Bello's second of the game, which came with 5:20 remaining in the third.
Freshman Matt Ryan set up fellow rookie Sal Spatarella for a goal at the 4:38 mark, which made it 8-4 in favor of the Jaspers. Ryan converted a man-up opportunity 3:27 later, putting Manhattan back up by five.
The Mount's Eric Seifert scored a natural hat trick to close the gap to 9-7, but freshman Luke Dilillo put the icing on the cake when he scored with 1:39 remaining in regulation off of rookie Matt Slane's pass.
Prior to Saturday's triumph, Manhattan last beat the Mount in the 2004 season. The Jaspers needed four overtimes to earn a 9-8 road victory March 18, 2004.
Manhattan returns to action tomorrow, April 15, in New Haven, Conn. when they take on Yale University in what will be the Jaspers first ever meeting with an Ivy League member.
