Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - In their 2013 home opener, the Manhattan women's lacrosse team trailed 8-1 going into halftime. A furious rally in the second half saw the Jaspers close the gap to as few as four, but ultimately fell short as they dropped a 14-9 decision to Wagner.
For the second consecutive game, the Jaspers (0-2) fell behind five goals in the first half. Wagner's Michel Galante began the scoring just 2:40 into the ballgame. She would later add another while Tori McGrath scored two of her own to open the 5-0 advantage with 9:04 to play in the first half.
Manhattan finally got on the board with under six minutes remaining until halftime when Claire Roediger scored the first goal of her career. That would be the only goal of the half for the Jaspers as Wagner (2-0) went on to score the final three of the frame, leading 8-1 at the break.
The Seahawks came out firing to start the second half as well when Shea Gegan scored a man-up goal off a free-position shot just over one minute into the period. Kimmy Tumolo would add another goal for Wagner making the score 10-1 with 25:22 to play in regulation.
From there, the Jaspers began a second half march towards a potential comeback. Carly Eskenazi went sprinting down the middle of the field before feeding Kelsey Rehain to her left. Rehain would finish the shot, triggering a four-goal run. Eskenazi would have two of the goals while Roediger added another to her score sheet.
Having cut the deficit in half, at 10-5, Tumolo ended the Manhattan stretch notching the second of her three goals with 16:03 left to play. Roediger answered almost immediately for the Jaspers, registering the first hat trick of her career. However, both teams would trade goals over the next nine minutes giving the Seahawks a 13-7 lead with 5:26 to go in the frame.
Rehain and Domenica O'Brey cut the deficit to four with consecutive goals for Manhattan but it was too little too late. With just over a minute to go, Wagner would win the ensuing draw control and a Tumolo ended the Jaspers hope of a comeback.
An aggressive Seahawk offense fired off 28 total shots and saw eight different players score goals, led by Tumolo's hat trick. As for Manhattan, Roediger paced the teams scoring while Eskenazi and Rehain each had a multi-goal game. After being outshot 16-6 in the first half, the Jaspers closed the gap in that category outshooting Wagner 16-12 in the second.
The Seahawks capitalized on Manhattan's aggressive defense, scoring on one of their two extra-man opportunities along with converting on four of their five free-position shots. Conversely, the Jaspers were 0-1 on the EMO and just 1-6 on the free-position.
Sophomore goalkeeper Christina Fiorinelli made nine saves and had a game high four ground balls for the Jaspers while Wagner's Katie Ferraro stopped seven shots in net.
Manhattan is back in action on Sun. March 3, when they travel to Providence, R.I. for a 1 p.m. tilt with Brown.
