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Riverdale, NY - Top-seeded Manhattan dropped a hard-fought 14-9 decision to No. 2 Monmouth in the 2021 MAAC Championship at Gaelic Park.
* The Jaspers opened the scoring with a
Kyle Gucwa (So., Pottstown, PA / Bishop Shanahan) strike off a feed from senior
Justin Malpica (Glen Head, NY / Long Island Lutheran).
* After Monmouth tied it up, Gucwa found senior
Sean MacKinney (Martinsville, NJ / Bridgewater Rarirtan) with less than a minute to play in the first period in giving the Jaspers a 2-1 lead.
* Classmate
Jake Nicolosi (West Islip, NY / West Islip) then extended the Green & White advantage out to 3-1 at the 13:49 mark of the second quarter.
* Unfortunately, Monmouth answered with five-straight goals in opening up a 6-3 advantage with 8:04 to play until halftime.
* MacKinney would quell the spurt with his second goal of the afternoon off a feed from graduate student
Trevor Pelletier (Miami, FL / Gulliver Prep).
* The Hawks would counter with three-straight goals in opening up a 9-4 lead early in the third period.
* Down but not out, senior
Brendan Krebs (East Williston, NY / Chaminade) made a nifty save on the ensuing possession, before quickly getting the ball to the offensive end, and junior
Liam Walshe (Commack, NY / Commack) was the beneficiary as he converted the fast-break opportunity off a feed from graduate student
Rob Johnson (Bayport, NY / Mount St. Mary's).
* Gucwa then scored two of the next three goals, the second of which came following an incredible ground ball recovery to trim the deficit to 10-7 with 14:18 to play in regulation.
* The teams would then trade goals, as Manhattan trailed 11-8 with 10:16 to play following Walshe's second snipe of the afternoon.
* The Jaspers would have opportunities on each of their next two possessions to further dent the lead, but were unable to convert and Monmouth registered three-straight goals in jumping out to a 14-8 lead with 4:41 remaining.
* Gucwa would cap the scoring off a Walshe feed to provide the final 14-9 score.
* The Keystone State native led all players with four goals, while adding an assist.
* Gucwa, who scored seven goals with two assists in the MAAC Championship, was named to the All-Tournament Team and was joined by senior defenseman
Luke Pacher (Williston Park, NY / Chaminade).
* He also finishes the season as the team-leader in goals (20) and points (27).
* Walshe had two goals and an assist, while MacKinney registered two goals to round out the multi-goal performers for the Jaspers.
* Krebs made six saves in defeat.
* Cade Stratton scored three goals with three assists to lead the way for Monmouth.
* Noah Lode made 10 saves in earning the win, while Matt Soutar was 20-for-27 from the Faceoff X.
* Lode, Stratton and Chris Hervada (1 goal, 4 ground balls) all earned MAAC All-Tournament Team honors, while Soutar was the Tournament MVP.
* The Hawks are now 8-2 and will next play in the NCAA Tournament, while the Jaspers end the season with a 5-5 record.
* Manhattan, which last qualified for the MAAC Tournament in 2010, is now 6-7, all-time, in MAAC Championship play and 1-4 in title games.
