Balanced Attack Leads Manhattan To First MAAC Win

Box Score (PDF) | Photos

Riverdale, NY - Nine different Manhattan student-athletes found the back of the net as the Jaspers bested St. Bonaventure 15-12 in the MAAC opener for each team.

Manhattan improves to 2-2 on the year as the Bonnies are now 0-3.

Sophomore Sean MacKinney (Martinsville, NJ / Bridgewater Raritan) scored three goals with two assists to pace the offense while junior Kelson Borisenko (Winnipeg, Manitoba / Hill Academy) was all over the field on defense, finishing up with five ground balls.
 

From the faceoff X, senior Robert Carroll (Grosse Point Park, MI / Grosse Point South) was a machine in going 20-for-29 with a career-high 13 ground balls while setting the tone for Manhattan all day long.

Trailing 2-1 midway through the first quarter, MacKinney fed Mike Lombardi (West Islip, NY / West Islip) in front of the net, and the junior quickly fired it past the Bonnie goalkeeper to spark an 8-1 run, which was fueled by five-straight scores.

St. Bonaventure would respond with three-straight scores, before junior Brandon Grinnell (Wakefield, MA / Wakefield Memorial) and MacKinney hit paydirt in extending the advantage out to 11-6 with 1:46 to play in the third quarter.

The Jasper advantage would grow to 14-8 with 14:14 remaining in the game on goals from junior Luke Hanson (Middletown, NY / Minisink Valley) and freshman Tadhg O'Riordan (Tappan, NY / Tappan Zee).

Down but not out, the Bonnies sliced the lead in half with three scores to make it a three-goal game with 9:42 remaining when Brendan Krebs (East Williston, NY / Chaminade) made his presence felt. The sophomore keeper quelled any thoughts of a St. Bonaventure upset with  three big saves over the next seven-plus minutes, before Manhattan put the game on ice with the hidden ball trick that resulted in a Justin Malpica (Glen Head, NY / Long Island Lutheran) goal off a Hanson feed.

Notes
* Manhattan opened up MAAC play with a win for the first time since the 2011 season.

* Krebs made six of his nine saves in the fourth quarter in registering his second career win.

* The 15 goals are the most scored by a Jasper team since a 20-5 win over Wagner on April 3, 2012.

* Manhattan's first eight goals were scored by eight different players.

* The Jaspers were 1-for-4 on man-up opportunities while killing off both SBU man-up situations.

* Freshman Liam Walshe (Commack, NY / Commack) scored the first two goals of his Manhattan career.

* MacKinney had five goals and three assists on the week to lead the way for the Jaspers.

* Hanson registered a career-high four assists with two goals.

* He is now leading the team with eight assists and 14 points.

* Grinnell and Malpica joined Hanson, MacKinney and Walsh with multiple goals.

* Manhattan posted a 42-29 advantage on ground balls and was 13-for-15 on clear attempts.

* Jackson Rose paced St. Bonaventure with four goals.

* Brett Dobson made 12 saves for the Bonnies.

Up Next
* The Jaspers will play at Bryant on Saturday, March 2 with opening faceoff tabbed for 12:00 pm.