Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – In their first home game in 17 days, the Manhattan women's lacrosse team dominated DelawareState to the tune of a 19-2 victory on Saturday afternoon. It was the first ever meeting between the two programs as the Hornets (0-8) are in their first season as a Division I program.
The Jaspers (3-5) had 17 different players score goals in the contest, winning their second in a row. The scoring began when freshman Megan Yarusso tallied the first of her two goals at the 28:02 mark of the second half. She would be followed by goals from Clare Kerrisk, Donna Jo DiNorcia, and Stefanie Ranagan before Yarusso netted another to lead 5-0 through the first five minutes.
Manhattan's offense continued to dominate, holding possession the majority of the game. Carly Eskenazi put her team up 6-0 with 19:52 remaining in the first half before Domenica O'Brey, Maria Toscano, and Carly Cappello made it a nine goal lead with 10 minutes to play in the half. DelawareState finally got on the board with 9:46 remaining in the first when Kiyanna Brown buried an unassisted goal to make it 9-1 Jaspers.
O'Brey became the only other Manhattan player with a multi-goal performance five minutes later before senior defender Amy Branchini scored the first goal of her career to put the Jaspers up 10, inducing a running clock. The Hornets quickly countered on a Sierra Harris tally but another senior defender, Maria Aloe, put the Jaspers back up double digits with her first career goal. Manhattan would lead 12-2 going into halftime, and hold DelawareState scoreless in the second half as they cruised to victory.
Seven different players did score in the second half for the Jaspers as Brianna Rickert and Victoria Doyle each scored in the first 10 minutes of the frame. Ali Griffin, Kaitlyn Cunningham, Alex Rousseau, Marissa Acosta, and Kaleigh Howe also had goals in the game for Manhattan.
Manhattan controlled possession throughout, winning 12 of 23 draw controls, including six of eight in the second half. They also picked up 25 ground balls over DelawareState's nine. The Jaspers also forced 21 turnovers, committing just nine of their own, and held the Hornets to 7-16 on clear attempts but were perfect on their 14 tries.
Sophomore goalkeeper Christina Fiorinelli made six saves on the day, stymieing the majority of DelawareState's offensive chances. Meanwhile, Kirkland Lewis stopped 10 shots for the Hornets. Yarusso, Cunningham, and DiNorcia tied for the game high in points as each picked up three (DiNorcia and Cunningham had two assists apiece).
The Jaspers will look to win three in a row on Tue., March 26, when they travel to New Britain, Conn. to take on CentralConnecticutState. The game is a make-up from this past Tuesday in which Manhattan was supposed to host the Blue Devils.
