PURCHASE, N.Y. — The Manhattanville College men's lacrosse team defeated the United States Merchant Marine Academy 15-12 Wednesday, March 13 at GoValiants.com Field, improving to 4-0 and matching the best start to a season in program history.

The Valiants (4-0) got on the board first, as freshman midfielder Matt LaBash (Stratford, Conn./St. Joseph (H.S.)) picked up his fourth goal of the season to give Manhattanville the early lead. Following a pair of Merchant Marine (3-1) goals, junior attackman Will Duval (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay) and junior midfielder Nick Delia (New City, N.Y./Clarkstown South) scored 1:15 apart to give the Valiants a 3-2 lead, but the Mariners' Michael Rodriguez would score late to tie the score at three after one quarter of play.

Following an early Mariners goal in the second quarter, the Valiants would take control of the game with a 7-0 run spanning over the course of the second and third quarters. Junior attackman Gianni Ciffone (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) got the run started with a goal on a man-up opportunity to tie the game at four, with freshman midfielder Nick Lambiase (Irvington, N.Y./Irvington) scoring less than a minute later to give Manhattanville the lead. Ciffone would then pick up his second minutes later, followed by freshman attackman Harrison Yoguez (Trumbull, Conn./St. Joseph (H.S.)) scoring his fifth goal of the season to give the Valiants a 7-4 lead at the half.

The home team continued the offensive push to start the third quarter, as junior midfielder T.J. Caccavo (Carlsbad, Calif./San Marcos) scored his third goal of the year to push the lead to 8-4. The Valiants would then pick up two more goals, as senior midfielder Erik Sparby (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) scored on a man-up opportunity, followed by Delia picking up his second of the game. Merchant Marine would then answer back with two goals of their own to cut the lead to 10-6 heading into the fourth quarter.

Ciffone and Duval both scored early in the final period to stretch the Manhattanville lead back to six goals, but the Mariners would answer back with three goals in a 3:39 span to cut the lead to 12-9. Ciffone then put the game away with two consecutive goals, giving him five on the night and 17 on the season. Sparby then scored his second goal of the night, providing the rest of the scoring in a 15-12 victory.

On the night, Ciffone finished with five goals and two assists, bringing him to a team-leading 23 points on the season. Duval had two goals and two assists, while Yoguez had one goal and two assists. Delia and Sparby each had two goals, with Delia picking up an assist as well. LaBash also had a multi-point night, scoring one goal and adding one assist, and senior defenseman Sam Hahn (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y./Briarcliff) picked up three ground balls and caused two turnovers. Junior goalkeeper Jason Frezza (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Portledge) picked up the win for the Valiants, making 22 saves on 34 shots. Manhattanville had 31 ground balls to the Mariners' 18, and went 3-for-8 on man-up opportunities.

The Valiants return to the field Wednesday, March 20, when they travel to Mount Saint Mary College (N.Y.) to take on the Knights in Newburgh, N.Y., with game time scheduled for 6:00 p.m.