Box Score
NEW YORK, N.Y. – In their final game of the 2013 campaign, the Manhattan women's lacrosse team dropped a 15-5 decision to metro-area rival Columbia on Friday afternoon. It was the third straight loss for the Jaspers to end their season, and the final contest in the careers of seniors Maria Aloe and Amy Branchini.
The Japers (4-13) took an early lead as sophomore Donna Jo DiNorcia buried her only goal of the game at the 27:34 mark of the first half. Columbia then went on a three goal run, holding Manhattan off the board for over 20 minutes of game action. Kacie Johnson tied things up for the Lions (3-11) just over a minute after DiNorcia's tally. She would later assist on Katie Angulo's goal before Kelly Buechel converted a free-position shot to make it 3-1 Columbia.
Manhattan would rally prior to halftime to knot things up heading into the locker room. After Casey Silvestri finished a feed from Clare Kerrisk with under four minutes to play, Carly Eskenazi evened up the contest just 30 seconds later. Unfortunately for the Jaspers, they would be unable to hold that momentum out of the break as Columbia scored the first eight goals of the second half, not allowing a score in the first 15 minutes of the frame.
Johnson started the scoring less than a minute into the half and was followed by goals from Angulo, Buechel and Paige Cuscovitch who each had two scores in that stretch prior to Johnson finishing her third tally of the contest to make it 11-3 with 17:06 remaining in regulation. The Jaspers finally got back on the board as Caitlin Hynes scored but it wouldn't be enough to spark a Manhattan rally. Following an Ashley Rinere goal by Columbia, Hynes added her second goal of the match before the Lions reeled off three straight for the final margin.
Despite playing even on the draw with both teams winning 11 each, Manhattan was outshot 31 to 20 including 20-7 in the second half. Columbia also corralled 29 ground balls to the Jaspers 23 while also forcing 22 Manhattan turnovers. The Lions converted on three of four free-position shots and were successful on 11-13 clear attempts. Conversely, Manhattan was 1-for-4 on free-position chances and only 6-9 in their clears.
Sophomore goalkeeper Christina Fiorinelli made eight saves in the game while Colleen Packer stopped eight shots for the Lions in 55 minutes of play. Skylar Dabbar played the final five for Columbia and made one save. Johnson led all offensive players with six points, three goals and three assists, while Angulo paced all scorers with four goals.
Manhattan was led offensively this season by Carly Eskenazi who had a team best 22 goals, tying DiNorcia for the team high in points with 25, while freshman Stefanie Ranagan led all rookie scorers with 18 goals.
