LOUDONVILLE, NY – For the first time in 372 days, Manhattan and Siena exchanged pleasantries in men's soccer, with the Saints coming out on top, 2-1, in the MAAC Quarterfinals at Hickey Field on Sunday.
Manhattan led the shots battle on Sunday, 12 -7, but were only able to finesse two shots on goal.
With no score in 27th minute, the Jaspers were all but sure they had a goal when Henry Hamilton used his head to redirect Ziv Dahan's header only to see it saved off the line by Mark Cajamarca.
Manhattan ran into trouble in the 33rd minute when Thiago da Silva took down an attacking Olafur Freysson which set up a Saints free kick from just outside the box. Siena freshman Dren Dobruna did the honors with a curling free kick to put the Saints ahead 1-0.
Not even a minute later, Manhattan was right back on the offensive when Dahan was the recipient of a miskick from a Siena defender and his one-time shot nailed the post. Yet again, the Jaspers were inches from scoring, and couldn't capitalize in a first half that saw them outshoot the Saints 8-3.
In the 58th minute, the Jaspers' hard work finally paid off with a beautiful give and go between Sebastiano Musu and Felipe Arruda that was capped off by a clinical finish from Musu from a few yards out.
In the 84th minute, Siena brought their attack out wide which led to Joseph DiPreta serving a ball into Mario Navarro Perez for the finishing touch and the game-winning goal.
The heartbreaking result marks the end of the Jaspers' 2024 campaign while Siena advances to take on #2 Rider in the semifinals on Thursday.
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