LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The Manhattan College Men's Soccer team earned their first MAAC Tournament win since 1994 with a 1-0 quarterfinal victory over Loyola at Disney's Wide World of Sports earlier today. The win exacts a measure of revenge for the Jaspers who fell to the Greyhounds at home 3-0 back on Oct. 7 at Gaelic Park.
Senior forward Trevor Chiduku scored his third goal of the season in the 35th minute when Jake Donowick fed freshman Tommy Amos just outside the box. Amos then sent a diagonal cross that was redirected by Chiduku past Loyola keeper Kyle Wittman.
Manhattan (4-14-1) was able to hold off a very fast and aggressive Greyhound attack as they faced a total 17 shots and defended 11 corner kicks. The contest was also incredibly physical with a total of 26 fouls being called between the two squads. Jaspers goalkeeper George Ellis posted eight saves in the shutout effort, his third of the year.
There were also seven cards issued in the match with five going to Loyola. Erik Montinard was given a yellow card in the 41st minute while Deia Nassar was ejected in the 88th minute following a skirmish with Wittman and Zach Tweddell. Nassar will be forced to sit out the semifinal match.
The Jaspers will take on the second seeded Iona Gaels, who defeated Siena in a shootout, on Sun., Nov. 6 at 1:30 p.m. Iona defeated Manhattan 2-0 in the final game of the regular season a week ago.
This victory marked the first MAAC Tournament win for Manhattan since the 1999 quarterfinals when they defeated Marist before falling to Fairfield in the following round.
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