Box Score
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Fueled by an offensive outburst, the Manhattan women's lacrosse team earned a 12-8 season opening win against Bucknell on Saturday afternoon.
The victory marked the Jaspers' first opening day win since Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008, when the team knocked off Howard 21-8 at Gaelic Park.
"I'm very proud of the way our team played today. This is what we needed to set the foundation for the rest of the season," head coach Elizabeth Weber said. "It was certainly a confidence-building win."
Up two goals with just under five and a half minutes to play in the game, junior Stefanie Ranagan (Yorktown Heights, N.Y. / Yorktown) and senior Donna Jo DiNorcia (Verona, N.J. / Verona) scored consecutive goals, their third and fourth of the game respectively, to put the contest out of reach and propel Manhattan to a 12-8 season opening triumph.
The Jaspers scored the first six goals of the game and never looked back. Freshman Kara Hodapp (Oak Ridge, N.J. / Jefferson Township) notched her first collegiate goal 1:45 into the opening stanza to give Manhattan an early 1-0 lead.
Juniors Claire Roediger (Katonah, N.Y. / Somers), Ranagan and captain Megan Yarusso (Brewster, N.Y. / Brewster) followed Hodapp's goal with scores of their own to provide Manhattan with a 4-0 lead just under ten minutes into the first half.
DiNorcia then went on a personal 2-0 run to give the Jaspers a 6-0 lead with just under 11 and a half minutes to play.
Both Ranagan and DiNorcia's second goal came off free position attempts.
Bucknell went on a 5-0 run to end the first half and bring the game to within one at 6-5.
Manhattan stormed out of the locker room and scored four of the first five goals of the second half. Ranagan led the Jaspers off with her second of the game to make it 7-5. After Bucknell senior Emily Kookogey struck back to make it 7-6, Manhattan rattled off three straight goals, courtesy of junior captain Kaitlyn Cunningham (Spring Lake, N.J. / Red Bank Catholic), DiNorcia and senior Domenica O'Brey (Loudonville, N.Y. / Colonie Central). This made the score 10-6 Jaspers.
After two more scores from Kookogey, Ranagan and DiNorcia capped off the afternoon with one goal apiece over the final 4:06 of play to ensure the 12-8 Manhattan victory.
DiNorcia had a game-high five point outing (4G, 1A). Ranagan recorded a hat trick on the afternoon. Cunningham and Roediger also had multi-point efforts in the win.
Five of Manhattan's twelve goals came off of free position attempts, a spot where the team thrived in 2014.
"We had seven different players score. If we can continue to have depth like that on offense, we can expect good things to come for us," Weber said.
Senior starting goalkeeper Christina Fiorinelli (Massapequa, N.Y. / Massapequa) made three saves en route to her first win of the season. Fiorinelli and junior defender Casey Silvestri (Pomona, N.Y. / Albertus Magnus) led the team, collecting three ground balls each. Senior defender and captain Caitlin Hynes (Mahopac, N.Y. / Mahopac) forced a game-high four turnovers.
The Jaspers return to action on Saturday, Feb. 21, when they welcome Wagner to Gaelic Park for a 1 p.m. contest.
