POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Sophomore
Gianni Ciffone (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) and senior
Andrew Murray (Yonkers, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) combined for 11 goals and freshman
Mike McGrath (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) saved 13 shots in his collegiate debut as the Manhattanville College men's lacrosse team improved to 4-0 with a 16-11 win over Bard College Saturday afternoon in a game played on Weinberg Turf Field at Vassar College.
Ciffone scored seven times, tying for 10
th-most in program history, while Murray added four, continuing his climb up the all-time scoring list. Senior
Tyler Bentrewicz (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) added three assists, giving him eight helpers in the last three games.
Sophomore
Will Duval (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay) and Murray each answered a goal from Bard's (1-2) Blake Burnley in the first nine minutes before two goals from Ciffone sandwiched around the first career goal for freshman
Jesse McGrath (Walden, N.Y./Valley Central) quickly put Manhattanville up by three. Bard countered with two of the final three goals of the quarter, trimming the deficit to two after 15 minutes.
The second quarter belonged to Murray and Ciffone as the duo scored all five Valiant goals, guiding Manhattanville to an 11-8 halftime lead.
After John Palermo scored to draw the Raptors within two less than 90 seconds into the third quarter, McGrath made a pair of saves on consecutive Bard possessions, and sophomore
Ryan Leonard (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Valley) scored shortly thereafter to push the lead back to three. After nearly nine scoreless minutes, Ciffone added two more in the final 90 seconds as the Valiants opened up a five-goal lead headed to the fourth. McGrath finished the quarter with seven of his 13 saves on the afternoon.
Burnley added his fourth of the game in the first minute of the final quarter, but that was as close as Bard got, as senior
Christian Flores (Hartford, Conn./Avon) added his first goal of the season and Ciffone added his final goal of the day.
Manhattanville is back in action on the road against Merchant Marine Wednesday night at 8:00.
