LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – Manhattan defeated Siena 8-7 on Saturday afternoon at Hickey Field. The Jaspers had five different players get on the scoresheet, led by Jake Nicolisi's hat trick and two goals from
Kyle Gucwa.
Manhattan goalie
Brendan Krebs opened the scoring nearly six minutes in to establish an early 1-0 lead for the Jaspers. With the strike, Krebs increased his career goal total to two and registered seven saves en route to victory.
By the end of the first quarter, Manhattan held a 4-1 lead thanks to consecutive goals from
Kyle Gucwa,
Sean MacKinney, and
Jake Nicolosi. Then, after Siena's Jack Kiernan tacked on his second goal of the day, Gucwa and Nicolosi each answered with another goal to send the Jaspers into halftime with a 6-2 lead. Nicolosi's second goal came with four seconds left in the first half.
The Saints clawed their way back into the game out of halftime, cutting the Jaspers' lead to 6-4 with still 12 minutes to play in the third quarter. But Manhattan had one last run in them, with Nicolosi completing his hat trick with 2:23 left in the third quarter before
Justin Malpica found the back of the net with 9:24 left.
Three unanswered goals late in the fourth quarter from Kiernan trimmed the Manhattan lead to 8-7, which proved to be the final scoreline. Kiernan paced the Siena attack with six goals to raise his season total to 20.
In the win, Gucwa increased his goal tally to 23 to lead all Manhattan scorers and now has seven games with at least two goals. Nicolosi and Sean Mackinney sit with goals 16 apiece for the next highest mark on the team. MacKinney added one goal and one assist to his record on Saturday.
Manhattan improves to 5-5 on the season and 3-1 in conference play. The Jaspers return to action on Saturday, April 16, when they play host to the Marist Red Foxes at noon.
