Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - Senior captains Phelicia VanOverbeke and Tara Convery each scored a goal in their final collegiate contest but it would not be enough as the Manhattan women's lacrosse team fell to Marist 14-5 on Sunday evening at Gaelic Park.
A "Senior Night" contest with a potential Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference playoff spot on the line, the Lady Jaspers (4-10, 1-5 MAAC) honored seniors VanOverbeke, Convery, Julia Lavelle, Kristen Brenner, Ashley McHale and Jayne Timo prior to the contest but could not carry enough momentum through 60 minutes of action in falling to the Red Foxes (5-9, 2-3 MAAC).
Junior attacker Chrissy Gutenberger led Manhattan with two goals and an assist, while classmate BrieAnna Spatarella, VanOverbeke and Convery had one goal apiece. For Marist, attacker Jori Procaccini had a game-high five goals, with midfielder Amanda Tuck adding four.
An exciting contest in the opening minutes, Marist opened play with two quick scores before Manhattan would answer with a pair of their own. Procaccini began the scoring with a goal at 21:26 to give the Red Foxes a 1-0 lead. Less than two minutes later, Tuck made it 2-0 Marist when she tallied off an assist from Procaccini with 19:42 left in the half.
Finding their legs shortly after, the Lady Jaspers fought back to tie the game at 2-all behind goals from Convery and Gutenberger. Convery cut the deficit to 2-1 when she scored on a free-position shot with 18:25 remaining in the first. Following her score, Gutenberger found the net on an unassisted tally to deadlock the game at 2-2 at 12:42 of the first.
After Marist retaliated with two quick scores to take a 4-2 advantage with 8:24 remaining behind goals from Ashley Miller and Kelly Condon, Manhattan got one back as Spatarella notched a big score to trim the disadvantage to 4-3 at the 7:07 mark.
Unfortunately for the Lady Jaspers, the one-goal deficit was as close as they would come the rest of the evening. Riding the tremendous scoring of Procaccin and Tuck, Marist chipped in three more scores to take a 7-3 advantage into the break and continued the frenetic pace in the remaining 30.
In the second period, the Red Foxes doubled their score, tallying seven of the final nine goals to pick up the crucial victory and eliminate Manhattan from postseason contention.
Between the pipes, Ashley Casiano made nine saves for Marist in picking up the win. Sophomore goalkeeper Julia DiBernardo recorded six saves in the defeat.
Overall, Marist held close advantages over Manhattan in shots (35-20), ground balls (26-20), draw controls (11-10), clears (14-10) and free-position shots (4-1).
The Lady Jaspers will likely finish the 2011 MAAC season in sixth place after recording a 1-5 record in conference play under first-year Coach Victoria Latino.
To follow Manhattan Athletics on Twitter, go to twitter.com/GoJaspers or visit Manhattan's Facebook fan page.
