Boxscore

PURCHASE, N.Y. – Sophomore Dom Poletto (Engelwood, Colo./Regis Jesuit) made 12 saves, including five big stops in the second half, to record his first collegiate victory as the Manhattanville men's lacrosse team defeated the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, 11-10, in the 2011 home opener on a rainy Thursday afternoon at GoValiants.com Field.

Senior Mike Strauss (Newark, Del./Wilmington Charter) along with junior Joe Daly (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) led the Valiants with four points on the afternoon, as Strauss scored four times and Daly had two goals and two assists. Freshman Brian D'Iorio (Huntington, N.Y./Saint Anthony's) continued to impress with three assists and five shots on goal, while sophomore Bill Motherway (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) and freshman Jeb Miller (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor) each had a pair of points to help secure the victory.

Leading the Mariners was Sean Zakow with five points on three goals and two helpers. Michael Ackerman and Zach Gray each had three points scoring two twice along with single assists. Merchant Marine split the time in the cage between Pat Sullivan and Shawn Kane; Sullivan made five saves but was dealt the loss, while Kane made three saves.

The Mariners scored in the opening minute of the contest as Zakow scored his first goal with an assist from Robert Atkinson 49 seconds in. Miller came back to net a pair of goals and give the Valiants a 2-1 lead with 10:34 remaining, but USMMA finished the quarter with a 4-3 lead after a pair of goals by Gray.

In the second quarter, the Mariners rattled off three quick tallies to take a 7-3 lead, before a tally by freshman Brandon Coontz cut the deficit to three at 7-4. Merchant Marine looked as if they were ready to run away with the contest after taking a 9-4 lead with 2:55 left in the first half. but the Valiants got a quick goal after surrendering their ninth as Strauss scored his first of the day to get the home team within four at the half. The Valiants trailed the Mariners in the shot column after the first half, 25-19.

The Valiants came out for the second half looking like a new team and scored two of the three goals in the third quarter as Strauss completed the hat trick with two more scores.

Trailing 10-7 heading into the final 15 minutes, the Valiants scored four unanswered goals in the final quarter to take the 11-10 advantage. The Valiants cut the deficit to 10-8 as Strauss netted his fourth tally of the game with 14:17 remaining. Daly tied the contest for Manhattanville with a pair goals in a three-minute span. With just over three minutes remaining in the contest, Daly found sophomore Conor McAndrew (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor) just inside the circle for the go-ahead goal.

The Mariners desperately tried to tie the contest with a minute remaining, but Poletto made a nice save on a shot by Gray to keep the Valiants ahead. After the save, Manhattanville was able to clear the zone and killed the final seconds in the offensive zone to pick up the impressive win, the first in the collegiate head coaching career of interim leader Tim Weir.

The Valiants finished the contest with a 39-35 edge in shots, including a 20-10 edge in the second half, and were a much improved in the faceoff circle, winning 14-of-24 draws.

Manhattanville (1-1, 0-0 MAC) will take to the road for the next three games, starting at Union (N.Y.) this Saturday at 1 p.m.