Box Score
Riverdale, N.Y. (April 26, 2008) ? On senior day in Riverdale, the Manhattan College Men's Lacrosse team beat VMI 8-7 in double overtime. Marc LaBelle had the game winning shot, to push Manhattan into the postseason as a #3 seed.
“Win and get in” was the bottom line for the Jaspers as they were ready to take on Virginia Military Institute in their final conference match of the year. In the first quarter, VMI struck frist as they made it a 1-0 game with 10:55 remaining in the quarter. Both defenses held strong as the Manhattan tied the game up with a man-down goal by Brian Wynne in the second quarter.
But VMI would answer back as within the final minute of the half, the Keydets scored putting the Jaspers down 2-1. But Manhattan had an answer of its own as 12 seconds later, Sean Firth found the back of the net to make it a 2-2 game. But the Keydets added to the scoring frenzy in and put one past the goalie with 8 seconds left to take a 3-2 lead heading into halftime.
In the third quarter, Angelo Marrano scored for the Jaspers to make it a 3-3 game but the Keydets answered right back in the next minute. With 12:14 in the third, it was 4-3 in favor of VMI. But with a man-up opportunity, Salvatore Spatarella found the back of the net for Manhattan to tie the game, 4-4. Manhattan would score the next two goals in the game as Luke Dilillo and Salvatore Perotto both struck for the Jaspers. VMI would add one more goal in the closing seconds of the third quarter to make it a 6-5 game in favor of Manhattan, going into the final period of regulation.
In the fourth, both teams were leaving it all on the field, but VMI came up big with a goal with 13:02 remaining to tie the game up. The rest of the period was a defensive battle but Manhattan cracked it with a Brian Wynne goal with 1:33 left. With the Jaspers leading 7-6, VMI needed to make a move and they did. With 54 seconds left, the Keydets tied the game up and sent the game into overtime.
With the Jaspers playoff life on the line, the first over time period stood still as the defenses once again showed their strengths. At the conclusion, the Jaspers were now going into double overtime for the second consecutive game this season.
But they weren't letting this get to a third over time as Marc LaBelle fired one to the back of the net to push Manhattan into the MAAC Championship Tourny and give them the 8-7 victory.
Seven different Jaspers scored today, as Wynne had a four point performance scoring two goals and dishing out two assists. LaBelle finished the game with two points as he had an assist to go with the game winning goal.
The Jaspers finished the regular season 6-8 overall and 5-3 in the MAAC. They have clinched the #3 seed and will take on Canisius College on Friday, May 2 in Loudonville, N.Y. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m.
