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MAAC Championship Central
Buffalo, NY – Junior
Lucas Da Silva (West Palm Beach, FL / Palm Beach Atlantic) found the back of the net with 1:45 remaining in regulation to help Manhattan draw Canisius 1-1 in the regular season finale on Wednesday evening.
With the win, Manhattan wraps up the regular season with a 9-7-1 overall record, going 6-3-1 in MAAC play. Canisius moves to 11-3-4 in 2017 and 5-1-4 against conference foes.
With the tie, Manhattan clinches the fourth seed in the upcoming MAAC Tournament. The Jaspers will host #5 Quinnipiac on Sunday, November 5 at Gaelic Park at 2:00 pm. Canisius enters the postseason as the #3 seed. While both teams finished with 19 points, the Golden Griffins won the tiebreaker with a better record against higher-seeded opponents Rider and Fairfield.
Canisius broke the ice in the 22nd minute. After the ball was played into the box, Filippo Tamburini found the loose ball five yards out and sent it home to make it 1-0.
The Golden Griffins did not let up in the first half. In the 39th minute, Manhattan blocked a shot and defended a header off a corner kick. The Jaspers responded with two shots on goal in the final six minutes from freshman
Brandon Joseph-Buadi (Shoreham-by-Sea, England / Woodard) and sophomore
Jean-Baptiste Tamas-Leloup (Sainte Bazeille, France / Merignac).
Manhattan countered early in the second half with three solid chances. Ten minutes out of the break, junior
Callum Carsley (Birmingham, England / Princethorpe College) and Da Silva orchestrated a give-and-go down the left side, but the former's left-footed shot snaked wide left. Four minutes later, sophomore
Mathis Hardy (Rennes, France / CENS) corked a roller by the left post, but Canisius goalkeeper Marco Trivellato snuffed it out. Senior
Fabian Burnett (Bloomfield, CT / Monroe College) walked in alone in the 66th minute, but his shot was corralled.
As the clock wound down in the second half, Manhattan played the ball inside the 18-yard box. As Canisius pinballed the clear attempt in the ball, Da Silva stepped up and fired a shot to the top right corner for the equalizer. Canisius tried to regain the lead in the final seconds of regulation, but was unsuccessful.
As the first overtime period started, Da Silva busted out of the gate with a rocket shot from 25 yards out, but it curved wide left.
The Golden Griffins had their best chance in overtime when they were awarded a free kick in the 102nd minute. From just outside the box, Bjarki Benediktsson's kick drifted towards the left post. Sophomore netminder
Marcellin Gohier (Pouance, France / CENS) leaped up and scraped the ball with his right hand, which made the ball hit the crossbar.
Inside The Numbers
- Manhattan has tallied a record above .500 for the first time since 1991.
- This is the 18th time in the program's 50-year history that the Jaspers had only one draw in the season and the first time since 2012.
- Tonight was Manhattan's first tie since October 26, 2016 against Fairfield.
- Manhattan's 15 goals allowed this season is a program record for fewest goals allowed in a season.
- The Jaspers recorded 12 shots against Canisius. It is the third straight game and 10th game this season they have hit double digits in shots.
- Da Silva and Joseph-Buadi led the team with three shots and two shots on goal.
- Gohier made seven saves in net to increase his save percentage to .862. He was ranked second in the nation in save percentage entering this week.
