Box Score
Jacksonville, Fla. - In their first ever Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) game in the state of Florida, the Manhattan men's lacrosse fell 12-5 to the Jacksonville Dolphins on Saturday afternoon. The loss dropped the Jaspers to 5-8, 1-4 in the MAAC and eliminated them from conference tournament contention.
Manhattan struggled to find the back of the net early on as they were shutout in the first quarter and trailed 6-3 at halftime. The Dolphins (5-8, 3-3 MAAC) controlled possession winning eight of ten first half face offs and forcing seven turnovers in the first two quarters.
Taylor Bethea finally put the Jaspers on the board with 9:57 to play in the second quarter cutting the deficit to 3-1. However, goals from David Goldman and Quint Miller pushed the Jacksonville lead up to four before Brendan Rogers scored two of the next three goals, including a tally with one second remaining in the half.
In the third quarter, the Dolphins scored four consecutive goals and led 10-3 with 5:07 left in the period. Both Kevin Cox and Andrew Hurst found the back of the net and attempted to put Manhattan on the comeback trail. Going into the final frame, the Jaspers trailed 10-5 and looked to be turning the tables.
Despite winning seven of ten second half face offs and outshooting Jacksonville 28-16, Manhattan just could not find a way to break through and were kept off the scoreboard in the fourth as the Dolphins added two more tallies to reach the final score of 12-5.
Jacksonville made good use of their possessions, turning the ball over just six times throughout the game and scoring on four of six "extra-man" opportunities. They also picked up more ground balls than Manhattan (32 to 26) and held the Jaspers to just 1-5 on the EMO.
Quint Miller led all players with four points, three goals and one assist, while Rogers paced the Jaspers with his two goals. Peter Deluca made 10 saves in the victory while sophomore Rich Akapnitis came up with 11 stops for Manhattan.
Manhattan will conclude the 2012 regular season on Sat., April 28 when they host MAAC rival Siena at 7 p.m. at Gaelic Park. Prior to the game, seven Manhattan seniors will be honored as they play in the final home game of their careers.
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