Box Score
Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - Courtesy of a balanced first half attack, led by freshman Andrew Gresham (Pitt Meadows, BC, Canada / Pitt Meadows Secondary), the Manhattan men's lacrosse team earned its first victory of the 2015 season, topping NJIT, 7-5, at Gaelic Park on Tuesday night.
With the win, the Jaspers improve to 1-10 on the season, while the Highlanders fall to 0-9.
Ten of the 12 total goals in the contest were scored in the opening half hour of play, with Manhattan taking a 6-4 lead into the locker room.
The Jaspers struck first, when Gresham buried the opening shot of the game just ten seconds into the first quarter. Gresham's goal came off a nice feed from senior Andrew Hurst (Babylon, N.Y. / Babylon) after Manhattan won the draw and raced down the field.
After NJIT answered to knot the score at one with 8:27 to play, Gresham tallied the opening goal of a 4-0 Jaspers' spurt with 6:01 remaining in the opening stanza.
Hurst, senior co-captain Marcel Godino (Summit, N.J. / Summit) and junior Mike DiPascali (Martinsville, N.J. / Bridgewater-Raritan) helped Manhattan open up a 5-1 lead in the waning stages of the first quarter.
The Highlanders responded with a 3-0 run to shrink the deficit to a single goal at 5-4, but Hurst notched his second goal of the game with 7:22 to play in the second quarter to lift the Jaspers to a 6-4 lead at halftime.
Neither team would score until the 10:22 mark of the fourth quarter when sophomore Alex Abiog (Saratoga, Calif. / Bellarmine College Prep.) ripped one by NJIT freshman goalkeeper Nick Marzullo to provide Manhattan with a 7-4 edge.
Freshman Joe Lomeli closed the gap to two goals with 3:24 to play, but Manhattan hung on for the win.
Gresham, Hurst and Godino led the Jaspers' attack, with four, three and two points, respectively.
Junior Jack Fowler (Bethesda, Md. / St. John's College) won ten draws in the game, going 62.5% from the faceoff X. Defensively, freshman Frank Merrill (Mountain Lakes, N.J. / Mountain Lakes) collected a team-high five ground balls.
In goal, freshman Michael Zingaro (Cortland Manor, N.Y. / Walter Panas) was very impressive, making 12 saves while allowing just five goals.
Manhattan returns to action on Saturday, April 4, when the squad hosts Quinnipiac for an 8 p.m. bout under the lights at Gaelic Park.
General admission tickets for each men's lacrosse home game can be purchased for $5 apiece on the day of the game. Manhattan students are admitted free with Manhattan College ID cards.
Fans are not permitted to bring alcohol into Gaelic Park.
