Box Score
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - Despite dropping a 12-5 decision to Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) regular season champion Siena (11-4, 8-0 MAAC) at Siena Turf Field on Saturday, the Manhattan College men's lacrosse team (7-8, 5-3 MAAC) still has a chance at advancing to the MAAC Tournament. That's because the Jaspers got the help they needed to force a three-way tie for third place and the final two spots in the four-team event. Now Manhattan's playoff hopes are entirely up to chance.
Manhattan was seconds away from qualifying directly for the MAAC Tournament, but Canisius scored with three seconds left to send its game into overtime, then scored again in the extra period to beat VMI and move into a tie for the final spot. That Canisius win meant Manhattan would be out of the tournament if Marist beat Mount St. Mary's on Saturday night, but the Mountaineers' 14-9 victory dropped the Red Foxes to 5-3 in the MAAC, the same conference record as Manhattan and Canisius. The three teams all went 1-1 against each other, and each lost to both first-place Siena and second-place Mount St. Mary's, as well as beating each of the four teams below them in the standings. As a result, a random draw will be required to break the tie and determine which of the three teams is out.
The Saints, who haven't lost to a MAAC opponent since 2008, scored the first nine goals of the game. Ryan Duggan got Siena on the board with one second left in the first quarter, then the Saints scored five times in the second quarter to take a 6-0 lead into the locker room. Siena tacked on three early goals in the third quarter before James Synowiez (Owego, N.Y.) found the back of the net at the 7:53 mark. Kyle Ochwat (Farmingdale, N.Y.) added a tally 25 seconds later, but the Saints tallied the next three goals to increase their lead to 12-2. Just 17 seconds after Siena's last goal, Synowiez notched the first of his three goals in four minutes to round out the scoring.
Manhattan was then left scoreboard watching, and the Jaspers thought they were out once they saw the Canisius result. However, Marist's loss forced the unbreakable tie at 5-3, and the coin toss.
Synowiez's four goals pushed his season total to 38, the third-highest single-season mark in program history. He also has 105 career points in just 35 games in a Jaspers uniform. Chace Calkin (Englewood, Colo.) notched an assist to go along with a team-high five ground balls. Jon Fiorillo (Painted Post, N.Y.) (7-5) got the start in net and took the loss. He gave up six goals and made four saves in 30 minutes. Matt Solomito (Holtsville, N.Y.) played the second half and surrendered six goals while making five saves.
Duggan had three points (two goals, one assist) to lead the Saints. Bryan Neufeld, Chris Roth, Kyle Curry and Chris D'Alberti all tallied two goals, as well, while Jordan Loftus and John Rogener each had a goal and an assist. Neufeld corralled five ground balls and Matt Leithead added four ground balls, as the Saints held a 31-30 edge on the ground. Starting goalkeeper Brent Herbst (11-4) played the first 50:58 and earned the win. He yielded three goals and made 14 saves. Bill Kelly allowed two goals and stopped five shots over the final 9:02.
The draw to decide which two squads join Siena and Mount St. Mary's in the MAAC Tournament will be held on Sunday morning. Whichever team is drawn will not be in the field, while the other two will be seeded third and fourth depending on the result of their regular season meeting. The MAAC Tournament gets underway on Friday, May 7 at Tenney Stadium in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
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