Box Score Boxscore
NEWARK, Del. – Despite scoring the game's first five goals in the first 18:13 of the contest the Manhattanville men's lacrosse team fell to Wheaton (Mass.) on the campus of the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware by the score of 9-8. The Valiants had three point efforts out of sophomore
Brian D'Iorio (Huntington, N.Y./Saint Anthony's) and freshman
Corey Steimel (Wyckoff, N.J./Ramapo), while junior Billy Motherway added a pair of goals as well.
The game started off in grand fashion for the Valiants who took part in their second of three consecutive neutral site matchups. D'Iorio got the Valiants on the board first scoring off of a pass from classmate Jeb Miller (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor) to open up the scoring with 6:27 to go in the first quarter. Manhattanville got two more goals in the final three minutes of the frame coming from the sticks of Motherway and D'Iorio to put the Valiants up 3-0 heading to the second period.
In the second the Valiants picked right up where they left off in the first with two quick strikes from Steimel followed shortly thereafter by Motherway's second of the afternoon. Manhattanville looked to go on cruise control from that point onward but the Lyons of Wheaton refused to quit in the game. Over the next 17:57 of game time, the Lyons scored seven unanswered goals including a natural hat trick from Matthew Hillman including the game-tying goal at with 12:33 to go in the third period.
Manhattanville finally broke the run when Miller took a pass from Steimel and planted it in the back of the cage in attempts to swing momentum back in the Valaints' favor heading into the fourth quarter and down by one goal at a 7-6 margin.
In the fourth, Wheaton played the possession game trying to keep the ball away from Manhattanville while taking the right opportunities offensively. With almost half of the period gone by, Hillman struck for his fourth goal of the game and open up a two goal margin once again. The Valiants tied the game back up from senior Joe Daly (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) who scored his second tally of the season, Steimel added his second of the game with 4:24 remaining to tie the game at eight.
The Lyons won the ensuing faceoff and promptly turned the ball over to Manhattanville as sophomore Mike Arena (Stratford, Conn./Saint Joseph) scooped up the ground ball, but the Valiants turned the ball over on their possession to give the ball back to Wheaton who cleared the ball back to the offensive side of the field and scored what proved to be the game-winning tally with 1:40 to go in regulation.
Manhattanville won the next faceoff as Daly took the first shot that went wide, Wheaton cleared the ball once again but after entering the offensive zone stepped out of the box turning the ball over in the process. The frustrated Lyon committed a delay of game penalty giving the Valiants one last man-up scenario over the next 30 seconds. Manhattanville mustered three shots from Steimel and Motherway but couldn't find the back of the cage as Wheaton escaped with the 9-8 victory.
Earning the win for Wheaton was Harrison Bramhall who made 17 saves to pick up his second win of the season. Taking the loss for the Valiants was junior Dom Poletto (Engelwood, Colo./Regis Jesuit) who made 12 saves while allowing the nine Wheaton goals while falling to 1-2 on the season.
Both teams were successful in their clearing attempts as Manhattanville finished the game 17-for-21 on clears while Wheaton finished 22-for-28 including a perfect 15-for-15 in the second half. The Valiants were also 0-for-4 on extra man opportunities while the Lyons were 0-for-2.
Manhattanville (1-3) will finish off their spring break series with a trip back to Long Island as they will take on Montclair State from Walt Whitman High School in Huntington, New York, the game time as been pushed back an hour and will now start at 2:00 p.m. Wheaton (2-2) continues their season opening road trip with their fifth of six straight games to start the year away from home when they take on the Warriors of Eastern Connecticut State on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
