ALBANY, N.Y. – Returning to the road for the first time since Feb. 19's season-opener, the Manhattanville College men's lacrosse team was defeated at Sage on Tuesday evening, 14-7. With the loss, the Valiants drop to 1-3 on the season.

Sean Larkin (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) continued his fantastic start to his sophomore campaign with a hat trick, his second straight game with three or more goals. Larkin is now the first Valiant to reach double digit goals this season, leading the team with 11. Nick Cornelia (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) scored a pair and dished out an assist to match Larkin's point total with three, while Harrison Yoguez (Trumbull, Conn./St. Joseph) had a pair of assists.

Although Manhattanville would score the first two goals on the night, the Gators scored four straight to take a lead they would never surrender.

Cornelia struck first four minutes into the contest with his sixth of the season. Jesse McGrath (Walden, N.Y./Valley Central) would tack one on five and a half minutes later, netting his seventh goal of the year to put the visiting Valiants up 2-0. Sage refused to end the first quarter behind, as Kollin Matthews scored just seven seconds after McGrath's tally, setting of a string of three Gator goals over the next two minutes. Ryan Hanna found the back of the net with 3:19 left in the quarter to give Sage its first lead of the night.

The Gators continued the goal run in the second, with Bailey Martin scoring with 11:19 left in the half. Cornelia would get Manhattanville back into the game with his second of the night, finishing a feed from Yoguez with the man advantage to pull back within one. However, Sage responded once again with three straight goals to close out the quarter, taking a 7-3 lead into the half.

It was slow going for both attacks to begin the third before Larkin netted his first of the night a bit over seven minutes into the frame. The Gators tacked on three more goals, with a pair coming from  Hunter Brunelle, before Larkin closed out the third with a man-up goal from McGrath, heading into the final 15 minutes down 10-5.

After Sage's Anthony Marrone scored 26 seconds into the fourth quarter, Larkin completed his hat trick with 10:47 to play, converting with the extra man opportunity off Yoguez' second assist. Patrick Magliocchino (Thornwood, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) would get on the stat sheet with his third goal of the year via Cornelia's assist, but the Gators capitalized on Manhattanville foul troubles, netting a pair of man-advantage goals to close out the contest.

The Valiants had a season-high 37 ground balls in the contest. Joey Vitta (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) led the team with seven, while Nolan Nye (Emerson, N.J./Emerson Junior-Senior) collected four. Melchi Agyapong (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) caused three turnovers to lead the defensive effort. Sage won the faceoff battle 16-8, with Nick Padovani (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) winning four draws for Manhattanville. Jason Frezza (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Portledge) made the start in net, making eight saves in his 56-plus minutes of work. Cody Johnston (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset) spelled Frezza for the final 3:15 of play, making two saves in his season debut.

Up Next
The Valiants look to put an end to the three game skid on Saturday, returning home to play Wilkes at 1 p.m.

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