Box Score WORCESTER, Mass. – The Manhattanville men's lacrosse team fell behind 5-1 after one quarter of play and were unable to stage a comeback in a non-conference loss to the Clark Panthers on Saturday evening by the score of 11-7.
 
The men's lacrosse senior class combined for eight points in the second half including three each from Will Sahakian (Natick, Mass./Rivers School) and Peter Callahan (Fairfield, Conn./Salisbury School). While Justin Figueroa (Ardsley, N.Y./Ardsley) had a goal and Bill Motherway (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) had an assist in a six-goal second-half for Manhattanville.
 
The Panthers jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead as Jeffrey Wasson netted a pair to put his squad up by two just 2:40 into the game.
 
Manhattanville cut the lead in half, as it was sophomore Tom Tarczali (Stratford, Conn./Saint Joseph) to pick up an unassisted goal with 9:32 left in the first quarter.
 
Clark scored three more goals in the first quarter and twice over the entire length of the second quarter to take a 7-1 lead into the locker room at halftime. After 30 minutes of play the Panthers had built up a solid lead on the scoreboard and in the shot differential as they took a 24-14 edge into the break.
 
After halftime the offensive play for Manhattanville improved with the help of a man-up situation that the team capitalized on. With 11:51 to go in the third quarter, sophomore Jack Polak (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) picked up his first goal of the season with the assist coming from Sahakian for his team-leading sixth helper of the year.
 
The Valiants tacked on their second straight goal as a pair of seniors connected on a goal when Motherway gave the ball to Callahan, who got the ball past Kevin Ranta to pull Manhattanville back within four at 7-3.
 
However, just as Manhattanville had gained some momentum the Panthers netted three goals down the stretch of the quarter to send the game to the last period with a 10-3 lead.
 
In the fourth quarter, the offensive continued to improve as the team picked up a pair of goals within the first four minutes of the quarter from Polak for his second of the game, and from Sahakian, who's goal was assisted by Callahan to cut the lead in half again.
 
As time was working against the Valiants, the senior unit of the squad continued to lead their team back as Sahakian picked up his second goal of the game with Callahan getting the assist on his second straight goal. Fifty-nine seconds later, Figueroa got in on the scoring act with an unassisted goal to pull the visitors within three.
 
Just as it seemed the Valiants had all the momentum, the Panthers won the ensuing faceoff and despite a turnover, Clark got the ball back after Manhattanville returned the favor with a giveaway. The Panthers then stormed back into the offensive box and picked up their 11th goal of the contest to put the game out of reach.
 
In goal for the Valiants, senior Dom Poletto (Engelwood, Colo./Regis Jesuit) ended the game with 16 saves and six ground balls while suffering the loss for Manhattanville. Earning the win in goal for Clark was Ranta, who finished the game with 13 saves as well along with nine ground balls.
 
Manhattanville (0-7) will look to snaps its losing skid against Merchant Marine on Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m. Coverage of the game will be available on GoValiants.TV several minutes prior to the start of the game. Clark (3-2) will play host to Husson on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. in its next contest.