West Long Branch, N.J. (September 7, 2007) ? The Manhattan College men's soccer team gave up a goal in each half on the way to a 2-0 loss to nationally-ranked Monmouth University 2-0.
The Jasper defense held tough for most of the first half, but suffered a lapse in the 37th minute when Monmouth junior midfielder Rob LaRocca, just off the bench, took a through ball from senior Michael Miller and slotted the ball into the net for a 1-0 lead.
Early in the second half, the Hawks then made it 2-0 on a bullet free kick from about 30 yards out by senior Tom Gray, a Hermann Trophy nominee.
The Jaspers grabbed a good deal of possession from that point, but couldn't find the net, despite several good efforts in the final third in the last 25 minutes.
Jasper goalkeeper John Ciano had seven saves for the Jaspers, who are now 0-2 and travel to play at West Point versus Army on Sunday. Kickoff for that game is 2 p.m.
“I was heartened by the play in the second half by some of our younger players and I can see already that minute by minute we are maturing and that holds some great promise as we move along in the season,” said Manhattan coach Michael Swanwick.
