EAST PATCHOGUE, N.Y. - On Saturday afternoon, the Manhattanville College men's lacrosse team ended their third week of Skyline conference play with a game against Saint Joseph's University (Long Island). The Golden Eagles defeated the Valiants by a final score of 10-5. Following the loss, Manhattanville's season record falls to 3-10 (2-3 Skyline), while Saint Joseph's improves to 6-5 (3-2 Skyline).
The Golden Eagles came out with a hot start, scoring four goals on the Valiants within the first eight minutes of the matchup. Manhattanville's Nick Cornelia (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) was able to score their first goal of the game, and he followed up with an assist to Jesse McGrath's (Walden, N.Y./Valley Central) goal less than two minutes later. After an eventful first quarter, Saint Joseph's was able to capture a 5-2 lead, while also topping the Valiants in shots 14-5.
After a significantly scoreless second quarter, the Valiants opened the scoring with 3:16 remaining with a goal from Sean Larkin (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains). With Cornelia's second assist of the game to Larkin, he reached his 40th point of the season. Saint Joseph's struck back a mere 20 seconds later to uphold their lead at 6-3 by the end of the first half. Both teams ended the first half with a 100% clear succession rate, but Saint Joseph's proved to be the dominant force in the face-offs, winning 10 out of 11. Saint Joseph's relentless offense was able to dish out 26 shots towards Jason Frezza (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Portledge), whereas the Valiants offense only shot 11 times.
The Valiant's offense were able to outscore the Golden Eagles in a third quarter push. Despite the Golden Eagles opening the scoring with one goal, the Valiants struck back with two in a row. Patrick Magliocchino (Thornwood, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) was able to net a goal from Kevin Rafferty's (Yonkers, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) first assist of the season. Magliocchino then followed up with an assist to Cornelia's second goal of the game. This left the score at a close 7-5 at the end of the third quarter.
Despite the Valiants pulling within striking distance in the third, the Saint Joseph's offensive unit was able to come up with three goals to put the game out of reach in the fourth. With Manhattanville unable to produce in the offensive zone in the final 15 minutes, the game wrapped up with a final score of 10-5. The statistics tell the story of this defeat in many different categories: Saint Joseph's came out on top with 51 shots (25 on goal) in comparison to Manhattanville's 21 (11 on goal). Frezza was able to put up 15 impressive saves against the Golden Eagles' offense. The Valiants scrambled for 22 ground balls, but the Golden Eagles doubled that, as they collected 44 throughout the matchup. Manhattanville fell short of face-off wins, only controlling two of 19.
Bryson Buchanan (Paterson, N.J./Paramus Catholic) had a notable defensive performance, collecting two ground balls and leading the team with three caused turnovers. Cornelia had an exceptional four-point game, while also leading the Valiants with four ground balls and seven shots (3 on goal). Melchi Agyapong (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) and Chris Perrone (Merrick, N.Y./Calhoun) were able to pick up three ground balls each. McGrath and Larkin both also put up 5 shots each (3 on goal).
Up Next
The Manhattanville College men's lacrosse team will be back home on Tuesday, April 26th, with a battle against the Farmingdale State College Rams. It will be a 5:00pm matchup.
