Box Score
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - The Iona Gaels cemented their spot as the number two seed in next weekend's Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) tournament with a 2-0 victory over the Manhattan Jaspers (3-14-1; 3-5-1 MAAC) on Sunday at Mazzella Field.
Iona (15-3-0; 7-2-0 MAAC) scored both of their goals in the first half beginning in the 16th minute when Franklin Castellanos sent a corner kick in towards the box that was headed home by Adam Rohan for his second score of the season. Six minutes later, the Gaels would tack on another one Alvaro Torrecilla found Castellanos who then fed Samuel Adjei behind the defense. Adjei would then beat Manhattan goalkeeper George Ellis one-on-one for the goal.
The Jaspers were aggressive in their attempts to get on the board, being called offsides on two separate occasions in the first frame before going in to the locker room trailing 2-0 at halftime. In the opening five minutes of the second half, Iona fired a quick shot that was saved before Carlo Giachino took the ball the other direction on a counterattack and fired a shot of his own that was saved by the Gaels Michael Jordan, who replaced starting keeper Barbero Borja at half.
Adjei would get two more shots off in the following minutes with one being blocked and one being wide. Manhattan's best scoring chance came in the 51st minute when Giachino found Deia Nassar off a corner kick but the header missed the net wide keeping the Jaspers off the board.
Iona outshot Manhattan 20-7 (12-3 on goal) with Jordan making three total saves for the Gaels while Ellis made 10 stops on the day in the loss. Andrew Santos picked up a yellow card late in the contest for the Jaspers while three different Gaels were booked as well.
The loss puts the Jaspers on a two match losing streak heading in to the postseason and forces them in to a brief waiting game. Manhattan currently sits sixth in the conference standings with 10 points, in a tie with Marist. The Saint Peter's Peacocks are in seventh with 7 points. Should the Peacocks defeat regular season champions Fairfield tonight in Connecticut, they would have the tiebreaker over the Jaspers while Manhattan holds the edge over Marist and the Red Foxes have the tiebreaker over Saint Peter's.
The MAAC Championships will take place from Thurs. Nov., 3-7 at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla. All 10 teams will compete with the top six earning first round byes.
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