Manhattan Aims for Second-Straight Win Saturday

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Hamden, CT -  Manhattan (4-6; 0-2 MAAC) returns to MAAC play at Quinnipiac (5-5; 2-0 MAAC) in a pivotal match-up at the QU Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday, April 7 at 3:00 pm. 
 
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
The Jaspers have posted improvements in numerous categories from a year ago:
Goals allowed: 10.0 (-3.6)
Defensive Shot Percentage: .255 (-.050)
Man-Down Defense: .233 (-.134)
Clear Percentage: .886 (+.040)
Opponents Clear Percentage: .877 (-.023)
SOG Percentage: .628 (+.043)
Turnovers/Game: 11.9 (-4.8).
 
LAST WEEK
The Jaspers concluded non-conference play with a rousing 14-6 win at NJIT thanks to four goals and three assists from sophomore Luke Hanson while classmates Brandon Grinnell and CJ Scharf each added hat tricks.

HANSON LIGHTING IT UP
Hanson's aforementioned seven points all came after halftime and are the most by a Manhattan player this year. His first goal tied the score up at 4-4 to start the third quarter before assisting on the go-ahead score. Additionally, he helped put the game on ice with three of the Jaspers' six fourth-quarter scores

NO FLUKE
Hanson also had three assists at Marist and has now had a hand in 55.6 percent of Manhattan's goals (10-of-18) over the last two games. On the year, he is second on the Jaspers' with 12 goals, 14 assists and 26 points while ranking among the MAAC leaders with 1.4 assists (6th) and 2.6 points (11th) per game.
 
THE WIN OVER NJIT ...
Secured Manhattan's fourth non-conference victory, matching the most by the Jaspers since earning four victories in 2009.

ZINGARO MAKING MOVES
Senior Michael Zingaro registered 14 saves in leading Manhattan to a 14-6 win at NJIT while notching an impressive .700 save percentage in earning his fourth career victory over the Highlanders. Zingaro yielded a season-low six goals and has notched at least three saves in all four quarters, including five in the second quarter. He has registered double-figures in saves in seven of his nine games on the year and is 4-5 while ranking second in the MAAC in saves per game (11.56) and save percentage (.562).

PARKER PRODUCTIONS
Junior Parker Giarratana matched his career-high with five goals at Monmouth while hitting the standard for the fourth time in his career. Giarratana is sixth in school history with 78 career goals and 116 points to go along with 23 multi-goal games.

UP NEXT
With three more scores, Giarratana will match James Synowiez (81) for fifth place in the Jasper career annals. On the year, the Sunshine state native paces the squad with 18 goals, 15 assists and 33 points while ranking among the MAAC leaders with 1.50 assists (5th), 3.30 points (6th) and 1.80 goals (10th) per game.

TWICE IS NICE
Grinnell and Scharf each had three goals at NJIT, including one man-up score. Additionally, each player is tied for the team lead with three man-up goals (3rd MAAC).

CLEARING THE AIR
Since clearing the ball just 13-of-18 times in a win at Lafayette, Manhattan is 95-of-102 on clear attempts over the last six games, highlighted by going a perfect 13-for-13 against Monmouth.

EXTRA-MAN, NOT SO FRUITFUL
The Jaspers lead the MAAC and are 14th nationally in killing off penalties at 76.7 percent.

DOUBLE FIGURE ZINGARO
Zingaro registered his 35th career double-digit save performance with 14 stops in the win at NJIT.

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST
Manhattan has outscored the opposition 26-13 in the final stanza this year.
 
YOUTH MOVEMENT
75.6 percent of the Jaspers' goals (65-of-86) and 67.3 percent of its assists (33-of-49) have been recorded by underclassmen.

SERIES HISTORY WITH QUINNIPIAC
The Bobcats hold a 10-0 advantage in the all-time series, including 4-0 since Quinnipiac joined the MAAC for the 2014 season. Since arriving in the MAAC, QU has outscored Manhattan by a 40-22 count.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE BOBCATS
Giarratana has three goals and two over two previous games between the teams while Zingaro is averaging 15.3 saves per game against Quinnipiac.

SCOUTING QUINNIPIAC
The Bobcats are led by the high-scoring trio of junior Foster Cuomo (20 goals, 10 assists), freshman Jake Tomsik (16 goals, 13 assists) and junior Mike Fletcher (16 goals, 9 assists).

MIRROR IMAGES
Both teams have yielded 100 goals this year (10.0 per game) 

BRESSINGHAM NAMED MAAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Joseph Bressingham was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Week and scooping up a career-high 11 ground balls while going 17-for-24 on faceoffs against the Hawks.

FIRST TIME, LONG TIME
Hanson became the first Jasper to win MAAC Offensive Player of the Week honors since Ryan Payton did so on March 25, 2014. The Long Island native paced Manhattan with three goals, two assists, and a ground ball against No. 8 Virginia and UMass Lowell. He notched a goal, an assist, and a ground ball against the Cavaliers before following that up with two goals and an assist against UMass Lowell.

ZINGARO BEING ZINGARO
For the second time this year and the third in his career, Zingaro was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Week. He recorded 15.0 saves, 6.0 ground balls per game, and posted a .612 save percentage over games against No. 8 Virginia and UMass Lowell. The senior yielded just eight goals to the Cavaliers as they failed to score in double-figures for the first time this year. He finished the game with 18 saves and five ground balls before notching 12 saves and added seven ground balls in a narrow two-goal loss to the River Hawks.

ZINGARO, MACKINNEY EARN MAAC WEEKLY ACCOLADES
Zingaro earned his first MAAC Defensive Player of the Week accolade after leading Manhattan to a pair of wins over Bellarmine and Lafayette while freshman Sean MacKinney earned Rookie of the Week honors.
* Zingaro dominated behind the pipes to the a tune of a .609 save percentage while averaging 14.0 saves per game. He notched 16 stops in the win over Bellarmine and 12 in the victory over Lafayette. Over the two games, he also did not yield a fourth-quarter score.
* MacKinney tallied seven goals in leading the Jaspers to wins at Lafayette and against Bellarmine. The attack found the back of the net four times in the victory over the Knights, and totaled three ground balls after beginning the week with three scores against the Leopards.

HANSON FEATURED IN THE QUAD
Hanson was interviewed about balancing academics and athletics and why he chose Manhattan College. Take a look by clicking HERE.
 
COLLARD IN THE JOURNAL
Freshman Austin Collard was featured in the New England Lacrosse Journal and named the publication's Freshman of the Week after scoring a goal at Wagner ... Read the full article by clicking HERE.

UP NEXT
Manhattan will host Detroit Mercy on Saturday, April 14 at 12:00 pm.