RIVERDALE, NY — Manhattan men's lacrosse got the better of rival Iona by a final score of 17-10 on Senior Day at Gaelic Park. Scott O'Connor (6 goals) and Kelly DuPree (5) were among the seven seniors honored pregame before the duo combined to score 11 goals in the rout.
HOW IT HAPPENED
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Iona opened the score line with a finish from Tochi Agwamba at 12:01.
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The Jaspers would get two quick hitters—at 11:09 from Jack Miller and at 9:13 from Scott O'Connor on a man-up opportunity—to stake out a 2-1 lead for the home team.
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The goals kept coming early, with Iona securing back-to-back finishes to take a 3-2 lead at the 7:26 mark of the first quarter.
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But for the rest of the quarter, the Jaspers set the tone for how they wanted to play, ending the opening stanza on a 3-1 scoring run with goals from O'Connor, Kelly DuPree and Sean Shelko.
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Manhattan led 5-4 after the opening quarter.
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Iona's Kyle Hardie would tie the game at five at the 9:20 mark of the second quarter.
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However, that last stalemate turned out to be a flash in the pan as the Jaspers scored the last five goals of the second quarter to take control of the game. Heading into the locker room at halftime, Manhattan nurtured a 10-5 advantage on the strength of four-first half goals from O'Connor.
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Iona's Kyle Hardie would add his second of the game with the opening goal of the third quarter, which cut the Manhattan lead to 10-6 with still 11:20 on the clock.
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From there, the Jasper onslaught was on as Manhattan scored the next seven goals, which bridged the third quarter to the fourth. The Jaspers held a commanding 13-6 lead after three.
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With the Jaspers comfortably ahead 17-6 in the fourth, Iona would tack on four unanswered to hit double digits in the scoring column before running out of time.
STATS AND NOTES
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With today's win, Manhattan has clinched a spot in the 2025 MAAC Men's Lacrosse Championships.
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The Jaspers are locked into the No. 5 seed for the Championships, and will play at either Marist or Canisius in the First Round.
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A Marist loss to Siena on Wednesday would pin the Jaspers up against Marist; however, a Marist win in that game would send the Jaspers to Buffalo to face Canisius in the first round.
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Saturday's home triumph marked the Jaspers' first ever win over Iona, which is in its inaugural campaign for men's lacrosse.
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Iona falls to 2-12 overall and 1-6 in MAAC play.
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Manhattan has qualified for the past five MAAC Championships coming out of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
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Scott O'Connor posted a new career high of 6 goals in his last game at Gaelic Park.
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Kelly DuPreee recorded a career-high eight points on the strength of a career-high five goals to go along with three assists.
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The three helpers for DuPree matched a career high and was the third game of his career with as many assists.
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Graduate goalie Connor Hapward finished with seven saves in his final outing at Gaelic.
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With Hapward in net, Manhattan is 9-5 at Gaelic Park over the last two seasons.
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Kelly DuPree, Scott O'Connor, Jaziel Rivera, Drew Hiner, Bryce Morris, Hunter Newman and Damien Blando were all honored prior to the opening face-off.
QUOTES FROM MANHATTAN
Manhattan head coach Doug Sage: "Today was a great win for our team and it helped us guarantee more time together with this group by clinching a spot in the MAAC playoffs. It was extra special on Senior Day for our Seniors and Fifth Years to be able to walk off of Gaelic with a W and celebrate together with their families."
NEXT UP
Manhattan (6-7, 4-3 MAAC) will conclude the regular season on Wednesday at Sacred Heart (10-2, 6-1 MAAC). The action will be streamed live on ESPN+ beginning at 3 p.m. when the Jaspers and Pioneers square off from Campus Field in Fairfield.
Follow Manhattan men's lacrosse on X (@ManhattanMLax) and Instagram (@manhattanlax).