Riverdale, NY - Senior Parker Giarratana (Delray, FL / Boca Raton Community) scored four goals, including the game-winning score with just 2:43 remaining, to lead Manhattan to an 11-10 season-opening win over Wagner at Gaelic Park.
Giarratana added two assists while sophomore Justin Malpica (Glen Head, NY / Long Island Lutheran) found the back of the net twice with an assist to lead the way for a Jasper squad that posted a near wire-to-wire win.
After Nick Warren opened the scoring just eight seconds into the game, Giarratana set the tone for his big day when he found sophomore Sean MacKinney (Martinsville, NJ / Bridgewater Raritan) in front of the net for the equalizer.
MacKinney's scored fueled a 4-1 spurt as freshman Tadhg O'Riordan (Tappan, NY / Tappan Zee) followed with his first collegiate goal off before Malpica found the back of the net. Following a brief Seahawk answer, Giarratana scored his first goal of the day with an impressive move in staking the Jaspers to a 4-2 advantage after one period of action.
Highlights are coming soon, but we thought we'd share this #SCTop10, no-look, over-the-head snipe from Parker Giarratana in today's win. ?? #OhMy
— Manhattan Lacrosse (@ManhattanMLAX) February 9, 2019
??@LaxSportsNet @Inside_Lacrosse @ESPNAssignDesk ?? pic.twitter.com/0w6OI1uRe2
Wagner would respond with two goals to tie up the score and would frustrate Manhattan for most of the quarter, until Malpica gave the Jaspers a 5-4 halftime advantage off a Brandon Grinnell (Jr., Wakefield, MA / Wakefield Memorial) feed.
Manhattan erupted out of the gates to start the second half with goals from junior Trevor Pelletier (Miami, FL / Gulliver Prep) and Giarratana in opening up a three-goal advantage with 12:35 to play in the stanza. Unfortunately, the Seahawks would answer with three of the next four scores in trimming the deficit to 8-7 after three periods.
Junior Luke Hanson (Middletown, NY / Minisink Valley) and Grinnell tallied goals to start the fourth in staking the Jaspers to a 10-8 advantage. Wagner would hang around and tie the game with back-to-back scores.
Giarratana followed with the aforementioned game-winner, after corralling the ball following a scrum in front of the net. Manhattan then forced a shot clock violation and would go on to run out the clock in collecting its first season-opening win since the 2008 season.
Sophomore Brendan Krebs (East Williston, NY / Chaminade) was the beneficiary of Giarratana's big day, earning his first collegiate victory while making 10 stops between the pipes.
Coach Kelleher On The Win
.@DrewKelleher catches up with @CJGib13 after today's big win to break down Parker's big day, Krebs' play in the cage and more!#JasperNation pic.twitter.com/sijakCuMbp
— Manhattan Lacrosse (@ManhattanMLAX) February 9, 2019
Notes
* Giarratana, who also had a team-high five ground balls, is now fourth in school history with 87 career goals, while also ranking fifth with 135 points and sixth with 48 assists.
* He registered his eighth four-goal performance and finishes his career against Wagner with 12 goals and six assists.
* Additionally, two of Giarratana's three game-winning scores have come against the Seahawks.
* Manhattan holds an all-time record of 16-2 against Wagner, including a perfect 8-0 at Gaelic Park, while outscoring the Seahawks by a combined 238-134 count.
* The Jaspers claimed their second-straight home-opening win in as many seasons.
* Manhattan was 19-of-20 on clear attempts while senior Robert Carroll (Grosse Pointe Park, MI / Grosse Pointe South) was 12-for-22 (.545) at the faceoff X.
* Nic Ancona, Spencer Kaufman and Tyler Grady all had two goals to pace Wagner on offense while Matt Sefcik made 11 saves in net.
Up Next
* The Jaspers will look to make it two in a row next Saturday at VMI with opening face-off slated for 12:00 pm.