Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. ? On a rainy, windy April Fool's Day at Gaelic Park, the Manhattan College men's lacrosse team (5-5) won ugly. The Jaspers committed 26 turnovers, but won the battle on the ground 54-35 and allowed a season-low five goals in a 10-5 victory over Sacred Heart (3-6) on Wednesday afternoon. The victory was Manhattan's third in its last four games.
After Sacred Heart tied the game at 4-4, the Jaspers scored six of the final seven goals in the contest to earn the win. Tyler Sabens (Falmouth, Mass.) gave Manhattan the lead off a feed from Joe Variano (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) at the 2:25 mark of the third quarter, then Sean Firth (Glen Rock, N.J.) and Justin Jensen (Bay Shore, N.Y.) connected on a tally with 1:41 left in the quarter.
Sal Perrotto (Garnerville, N.Y.) scored twice early in the fourth quarter before Matt Ferrino notched a man-up tally for the Pioneers. The Jaspers regained their four-goal advantage six seconds later, as Angelo Marrano (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) won the ensuing faceoff, then sprinted downfield and connected with James Synowiez (Owego, N.Y.) for his team-leading 24th goal of the season. Marrano rounded out the scoring with an unassisted tally of his own with 1:39 remaining in the contest.
The game started off as a defensive battle, and the Jaspers held a 3-1 lead after the first quarter. Variano got Manhattan on the board first at the 12:01 mark, but Dennis Gannon scored for Sacred Heart to tie the game barely a minute later. Variano picked up his second tally of the game 26 seconds later to put the Jaspers up 2-1. Synowiez chipped in with a goal at the 8:22 mark before the conditions worsened.
As a result of the poor weather, the teams went more than a whole quarter's worth of game time without scoring. Dan Casciano pulled Sacred Heart within 3-2 with 5:47 left in the first half before Kelly Mahon (Spring Lake, N.J.) scored to give Manhattan a 4-2 halftime advantage. Casciano registered a pair of goals early in the third quarter to tie the game. It remained that way for nearly seven minutes before Sabens' tally that got the Manhattan rally started.
Variano tallied four points (two goals, two assists) for the Jaspers, while Perrotto and Synowiez each scored twice. Marrano added a goal and an assist. He also went 10-4 on faceoffs and notched a team-high nine ground balls. Synowiez added six ground balls, while Steve Sternberg (Easton, Conn.) had three ground balls and caused three turnovers. John Geagan (Seaford, N.Y.) corralled eight ground balls and made 10 saves in net to earn his third win of the season.
Casciano had a hat trick and added an assist for the Pioneers. Tim Russo was the only other Sacred Heart player to have a multi-point game with two assists. Kenny Ushman and Zack Frank each grabbed four ground balls, while Frank (3-5) also made eight saves in goal. Shawn McDonough had three ground balls and caused three turnovers.
The Jaspers hit the road for their next three games, starting with a matchup at Villanova (6-3) on Saturday. The contest, which was originally slated for 7 p.m., will now begin at 4:30 p.m. at Villanova Stadium.
