RIVERDALE, N.Y. - On Saturday afternoon, the Manhattanville College men's lacrosse team's season came to a close with a game against the College of Mount Saint Vincent. The Valiants came out on top of the Dolphins with a final score of 12-7. Following the win, Manhattanville's season finished at 4-11 (3-4 Skyline), while Mount Saint Vincent wrapped up at 2-11 (1-6 Skyline).

Just over four minutes into the game, Manhattanville's Jesse McGrath (Walden, N.Y./Valley Central) opened the scoring from defenseman Joey Vitta's (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) third assist of the season. This would be the only goal scored throughout the entire first quarter. Jason Frezza (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Portledge) made six saves on 11 shots (six on goal) throughout the quarter. 

The Valiants' Nick Cornelia (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) dominated throughout the second quarter, scoring three goals. Two of these goals were unassisted, while the other came from early goal-scorer, McGrath. Despite the three goals from Cornelia, the first half ended at 4-3: just a one-goal deficit between the teams. Manhattanville's offense were able to outshoot their opponents with 23 shots (14 on goal), in comparison to the Dolphins' 20 (nine on goal).

Manhattanville kicked off the third quarter with a bang, as the Valiants netted three straight goals. Harrison Yoguez (Trumbull, Conn./St. Joseph) scored his first of the game with an assist from McGrath. With a pass from Cornelia, McGrath then followed with another goal of his own. Under two minutes later, Cornelia made use of McGrath's third assist, and scored yet again. Following just one goal from their opponents in the third quarter, Sean Larkin (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) scored one of his own. This would be the 32nd point in a goal-heavy season from Larkin. The third quarter ended with the Valiants on top, 8-4. 

Much like the third quarter, the Valiants scored another three unanswered goals within the first three minutes. The first two came from Yoguez and Cornelia, while Patrick Magliocchino (Thornwood, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) followed with his first of the game, assisted by Melchi Agyapong (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes). Despite the Dolphins' offense being able to slip a goal by Frezza, McGrath hit straight back. McGrath's goal was assisted by Bryson Buchanan (Paterson, N.J./Paramus Catholic), tallying as the senior defenseman's first collegiate point. Mount Saint Vincent followed up with two more goals to end the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late as the final score wrapped up at 12-7 in the Valiants' favor. 

This was a remarkable game for the Valiants' top producers of McGrath and Cornelia, concluding a pair of strong offensive seasons. Cornelia put on a show with an eight-point game, with five goals, three assists, and 19 shots (eight on goal). Cornelia ended his outstanding career-high offensive season with 52 points (37 goals and 15 assists). McGrath impressively tallied a seven-point game, with three goals, four assists, and 10 shots (nine on goal). McGrath proved to be an extremely valuable offensive player during this career-high season with 43 points (32 goals and 11 assists).

Joey Vitta (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) led the team with five ground balls, and Kevin Rafferty (Yonkers, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) and Nick Padovani (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) followed close behind with four each. Padovani also dominated the faceoffs throughout the game, winning 13 of 19. Today, both Vitta and Buchanan caused two turnovers each in their strong defensive performance. Vitta, Buchanan, Frezza and Nolan Nye (Emerson, N.J./Emerson Junior-Senior) all had stand-out defensive seasons. Buchanan collected 34 ground balls and 26 caused turnovers, Vitta tallied 38 ground balls and 19 caused turnovers, and Nye picked up 26 ground balls and 23 caused turnovers. Frezza made 11 saves throughout today's game. Frezza was another player with a career-high season, making 212 stellar saves, facing a total of 610 shots, and ending with a .559 save percentage. 

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