DANBURY, CONN. – The Manhattanville College men's lacrosse squad rode a 9-0 run in the second and third quarters, as well as five goals from junior
T.J. Caccavo (Carlsbad, Calif./San Marcos), to a 19-10 victory Tuesday night, March 26, on the road over Western Connecticut State University.
The Valiants (5-2) had dropped two straight following a 4-0 start to the season, but were on the right track versus the Colonials (6-4) from the jump. After WestConn scored the game's first goal, Manhattanville used a run of four straight, including three from junior
Gianni Ciffone (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac), to take a 4-1 lead and the 5-4 advantage heading into the second quarter.
The road team outscored the Colonials 5-3 in the second, including four straight to end the half and took a 10-7 lead into the break. WCSU actually started the second quarter with a 3-1 run and took a 7-6 lead, but the Valiants scored the next four, including two from junior
Nick Delia (New City, N.Y./Clarkstown South) and a one each from rookie
Harrison Yoguez (Trumbull, Conn./St. Joseph (H.S.)) and Caccavo to put Manhattanville up three.
Having scored four straight already, the Valiants blew the game open with five more unanswered goals to start the third quarter – nine straight overall – to take a 15-7 lead with 7:10 remaining until the fourth quarter. Caccavo scored three more times in the third and four overall as part of the 9-0 run. Western Connecticut State tried to stop the bleeding with a goal at 4:32 in the third to make it 15-8, but a buzzer beater at the end of the quarter by rookie
Nick Lambiase (Irvington, N.Y./Irvington) and two more from Yoguez and senior
Soya Goto (Rye, N.Y./Rye) to start the fourth continued the onslaught and make it 18-8 before the Valiants eventually came away with the nine-goal victory.
Highlights:
- Manhattanville outshot WestConn 56-42, held a 39-25 advantage in ground balls and won 19 faceoffs compared to 13 for the Colonials.
- Caccavo finished with six points, adding an assist to his quintet of scores. He landed 10 of his 12 shots on net and scooped up three ground balls.
- Junior Will Duval (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay) had a nice night as well, assisting on four Valiant goals, and totaled five points with a tally of his own. He also notched four ground balls and caused a turnover.
- Ciffone scored four times and finished with three ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers.
- In additional to his goal, Goto notched a game-high nine ground balls and caused a turnover.
- Senior Brandon Neff (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista) was 17-of-27 on faceoffs and notched seven ground balls.
- Junior goalkeeper Jason Frezza (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Portledge) stopped 13 Colonial shots for his fifth win of the season.
Manhattanville will return to the turf for another non-conference contest this Friday night, March 29, in Union, N.J., at 7:00 p.m. versus Kean University. The Valiants then close out the season with seven straight Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom games, including four on the friendly confines of GoValiants.com Field, before the MAC Freedom Tournament begins Wednesday, May 1.
