Boxscore

PURCHASE, N.Y. – In a game that saw four lead changes and four ties, Lycoming College came back from an early deficit to earn a 15-9 victory over the Manhattanville men's lacrosse team in a physical Middle Atlantic Conference battle on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at GoValiants.com Field.

The Valiants looked to snap a five-game losing streak and also had a date with former head coach Todd Hodgson. From the beginning of the game, the crowd and the Valiants looked ready to ruin the homecoming, but a lack of discipline cost the Valiants the game in the third and fourth quarters.

Led by Stephen Romano and Ethan Payne, the duo finished with 13 points each to give the Warriors an important victory. On the Valiant side, senior Mike Strauss (Newark, Del./Wilmington Charter) finished with four points, including his third goal of the game with just one second remaining in regulation.

The Warriors scored seven times on man-up situations and 12 times in the second half after trailing 6-3 at the half. The hosts led 2-1 after the first quarter, scoring twice on seven shots and owning all statistical categories. Strauss gave the Valiants their first goal with 13:41 remaining, followed by a blast by junior Conor McAndrew (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor) to take a two-goal edge.

Late in the quarter, Payne scored his first of the game as the visitors scored with three seconds remaining on their third man-up chance of the period.

In the second quarter, the Warriors scored back-to-back goals to take a 3-2 lead, but Manhattanville rattled off four goals to close the half up three. Sophomore Bill Motherway (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) scored a pair of goals in the period with junior Joe Daly (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) and freshman Brian D'Iorio (Huntington, N.Y./Saint Anthony's) scored single tallies.

The Valiants finished the first half with a 17-14 edge in shots, were successful on 11-of-12 clears and gathered 16 ground balls. Sophomore netminder Dom Poletto (Engelwood, Colo./Regis Jesuit) looked stellar in goal in the opening 30 minutes, making six saves and controlling the tempo of the game.

The third quarter was a different story, howevrr, as Lycoming outscored the Valiants, 7-2, after freshman Kyle Ekstrom (Newtown, Conn./Canterbury) scored early in the period. Ryan O'Connor tied the game at seven with 8:15 on a man-up tally. Strauss gave his team an 8-7 lead on the next possession, but the Warriors scored eight goals to take control, with three as a result of a man-up situation.

The visitors finished the contest with a 36-27 edge in shots and won 17-of-25 faceoffs. Poletto finished with 11 saves in the contest, while the Warriors using a trio of goalies in the cage and made nine saves as a unit.

Manhattanville (2-8, 0-6 MAC) will head to FDU-Florham for a 7 p.m. conference match-up on Wednesday evening.