DOYLESTOWN, PA – Trailing most of the game and down two with less than six minutes to play, the Manhattanville College men's lacrosse team scored five straight goals to rally for a 16-14 win on Saturday against Delaware Valley University and clinch the program's first conference tournament berth since 2004.

Manhattanville (8-8, 3-4 MAC Freedom) needed to win and have a trio of other MAC Freedom games all break their way, as the team clinched the fourth and final seed in the MAC Freedom Tournament following Eastern's victory over King's, Misericordia's win over FDU-Florham, and Wilkes' win over DeSales. The Valiants finished in a four-way tie for third place with King's, Wilkes and FDU-Florham, but made the top-four due to a 2-1 record against those three schools.

Sophomore Will Duval (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay) finished with nine points, courtesy of seven assists – tied for second-most in a game in school history – and two crucial late goals for Manhattanville (8-8, 3-4 MACF). Duval's classmate Gianni Ciffone (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) scored four goals, surpassing 40 for the season, while a quartet of Valiants – graduate student Andrew Murray (Yonkers, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac), seniors Tyler Bentrewicz (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) and Christian Flores (Hartford, Conn./Avon), and sophomore T.J. Caccavo (Carlsbad, Calif./San Marcos) – all added two goals each. Chris Coyle had a hat trick and four points and Jordan Smith added a hat trick as well for Delaware Valley (3-13, 1-6 MACF).

The Aggies took a 3-0 lead just past the 7:00 mark of the first quarter as Zach Winfield saved Manhattanville's first five shots on goal. The Duval-Ciffone connection got the Valiants on the board at 3:05, the final goal of the first quarter.

Sophomore Nick Delia (New City, N.Y./Clarkstown South) caused a turnover, picked up the ensuing ground ball, and fed Ciffone for Manhattanville's second goal at 13:41 of the second quarter. Sophomore Ty Arnone (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) won the ensuing faceoff and Ciffone completed his hat trick at 13:20. Delaware Valley responded with goals from Smith and Coyle to re-grab a two-goal lead, but Duval fed Murray at 8:58 and Flores at 6:46 to tie the game. Flores struck again on an assist from Ciffone at 4:21 for the Valiants' first lead of the game, but the Aggies tied the game just 22 seconds later. The score remained tied at six at the half.

The Duval-Flores connection struck a second time as Manhattanville grabbed a 7-6 lead at 13:55 of the third quarter. After Delaware Valley tied the game, Ciffone and Caccavo scored less than a minute apart to put Manhattanville up two, but the Aggies scored four of the quarter's final five goals, seizing an 11-10 lead headed to the final quarter.

Despite a Bentrewicz goal from a Duval assist, the Valiants still trailed by two with less than 5:30 minutes to play. Duval took over from there, scoring two goals 18 seconds apart, the latter of which tying the game with exactly five minutes to play. Following one of his two ground balls on the day, Duval found Caccavo for the go-ahead goal at 3:04, then Bentrewicz for an insurance goal with 2:26. Murray made it a three-goal game with 1:11 to play. The Aggies got a goal back with 59 seconds to play, but managed a lone shot on goal the rest of the way.

The Valiants season will continue at least one more game as the team travels to Eastern on Wednesday to face the top-seeded Eagles in a MAC Freedom semifinal. Game time has yet to be determined. Check govaliants.com for any and all scheduling updates.