RIVERDALE, N.Y.– The Manhattan University Women's Lacrosse team (2-8, 1-1 MAAC) was ignited by Olivia Cruthers's four-goal performance in route to defeating Merrimack College (1-8, 0-2 MAAC) by a score of 14-11 on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- In what was a beautiful day at Gaelic Park, Cruthers kicked things off by getting in between the poles twice in the first two minutes of the game via free positions attempts.
- Merrimack would score four straight unanswered goals in an exciting first quarter.
- Ashlyn Cambell would be the first to beat Manhattans starting goalkeeper Danielle Serbinski, followed by Hailey Schnider notching the second and Lindsay Atkinson tallying the next two.
- Ava Fernandes started things in the second quarter, scoring during a man-up advantage before Merrimack's Kaitlin Roche regained the two-score edge.
- After Atkinson extended the Warriors' lead to three, both teams traded goals, with Jaspers Ashley Bonitch notching her seventh goal of the campaign and Schnider gaining her second score on the day.
- With four minutes left before the intermission, the Green and White would score four straight unanswered goals.
- Before the offensive breakout, Head Coach Jenna Dingler changed things up in the crease. She summoned Sophie Pasnak from the bench to take over, and she didn't disappoint, keeping the visitors scoreless for the rest of the half.
- Lauren Maher and Emily Fiola capitalized on free position attempts, followed by Maher setting up Juliana Mahan to knot things up at seven.
- With only five seconds remaining on the scoreboard, Brooke Leonard provided a beautiful feed to Cruthers, giving her a first-half hat trick and a one-score lead heading into the locker rooms.
- Cruthers kept the momentum out of the break as she found the back of the net once more on a dime from Mahan to give the home squad a two-goal advantage.
- Brooke Brennan would stop the bleeding for the visitors, bringing them back to within one goal with plenty of time left to come back.
- Three minutes later, Mahan regained the two-score cushion for the home team, connecting on her second tally of the day.
- With just under six minutes left to play in the third, Megan Dwan seized the opportunity of a free position attempt to gain her first collegiate goal of her career, the Milestone sent Manhattan's sideline into a frenzy.
- After almost eight minutes of scoreless gameplay, the warriors showed signs of life as Atkinson matched Cruthers for her fourth tally of the game, cutting the lead to a pair for Manhattan.
- Both offenses battled for the next eight minutes, as Maher and Leonard scored for the Green and White, and Grace Boneu and Roche responded for the Warriors to keep the game within reach.
- Thanks to a yellow card, Manhattan gained a man-up advantage with two minutes left to play. From there, Fiola's second goal of the afternoon sealed the deal for the Jaspers.
STATS AND NOTES
- Olivia Cruthers scored four goals on five shots in her efficient offensive performance while catching four ground balls.
- Lauren Maher finished with three points total, netting two, to go with an assist in the match.
- Freshman Juliana Mahan also had three points on the day, tallying two scores and an assist to go with a ground ball.
- Emily Fiola scored twice in addition to her team-leading five ground balls, making her mark on the victory.
- Brooke Leonard Filled the box score, having a goal, an assist, and four pickups of her own.
- Sophie Pasnak made seven saves on the afternoon after subbing in about halfway into the second quarter. She allowed four goals on the day in her third career appearance and obtained her first collegiate win.
QUOTES FROM THE JASPERS:
Head Coach Jenna Dingler on Olivia Cruthers: "She's a phenomenal student-athlete. She puts the work in on and off the field. So proud of her composure. Her performance. She's really come a long way in her four years here. There's no better way to cap off your senior season than being an impact player every single game."
Dingler on the team defense: "They banded together. They made the stops together. It's a team defense. We need every single person to be successful. So, they played as one. So much trust goes into that defense. We then translated that into offense."
Dingler on the Siena matchup on Wednesday: "It's all momentum, as you said. The confidence is going to continue to show up and show out. We have to take it one game at a time. Siena's a great opponent, as is Merrimack, and we just have to take every game the same way. Every game is just as important as the next."
NEXT UP:
Manhattan looks to build on the win as they continue MAAC play by traveling to Loudonville, NY, to take on the Saints of Siena College. The matchup is scheduled for Wednesday, April 2nd, and will begin at 3 p.m.