PURCHASE, N.Y. – Nick Cornelia (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) joined the 100 goal club while the Valiants earned their first conference win of the season as the Manhattanville College men's lacrosse team upended Saint Joseph's Long Island 19-7 on Wednesday night. The Valiants snap a three-game skid with the win, improving to 5-8 overall and 1-3 against the Skyline Conference.
With a pair of goals in the first half, Cornelia became the eighth player in program history to reach the century mark. The historic tally came with 4:54 remaining in the second quarter, temporarily putting the Valiants ahead. Cornelia ended the night with a team-leading eight points on five goals and three assists.
Despite the final score, the game got off to an extremely slow start offensively with just three goals across the opening 15 minutes. The Golden Eagles struck first with back-to-back goals from Kyle Strayer and Michael Carere, taking a 2-0 lead with 9:59 left in the quarter.
Dash Munson (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) put the Valiants on the scoreboard at the 5:21 mark, but that would be all for both attacks to open up the game.
Things shifted into another gear with a 10 goal second period as play opened up substantially. A man-up goal from
Sean Larkin (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) off a
Tyler Berch (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset) assist tied the game up before Cornelia netted his first of the night to put the Valiants ahead 3-2. Saint Joseph's responded with two straight goals courtesy of Carere and Mike Amato to reclaim the lead. Larkin's second of the night from Cornelia tied it once again before Cornelia's 100
th career goal from Berch put the home team back in front. Both teams traded goals across the final 4:46 of the half, with the Golden Eagles getting tallies from Tim Bruno and Strayer while McGrath and Larkin closed out the period for the Valiants with goals. With the dust settled, Manhattanville carried a 7-6 advantage into the half.
After a tightly contested opening 30 minutes, Manhattanville took control with a dominant second half, outscoring the Golden Eagles 12-1 to close out the night. The Valiants scored all six goals of the third quarter, a run started by
Elijah Devereaux (Webster, N.Y./Danbury Jr. Hatricks (NA3HL)) with his first collegiate goal of his lacrosse career from McGrath at 11:16. McGrath added another goal of his own ahead of two-straight by
Drew Palladino (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh), assisted by Berch and Cornelia respectively. Cornelia closed out the quarter with a pair of unassisted tallies to put the Valiants firmly in front 13-6 entering the final quarter.
The run carried through most of the fourth as the Valiants had six different goal scorers in the period make it 13 unanswered goals by the home team. Palladino,
Jake Strobel (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains),
Matt Bundy (Cinnaminson, N.J./Cinnaminson), Cornelia,
Nick Padovani (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) and
Sal DeBenedetto (Old Tappan, N.J./Northern Valley Old Tappan) closed out the dominant half of play with a goal apiece. The Golden Eagles would finally get one back in the closing minute of play courtesy of Amato's man-up tally, but it was too little too late as the Valiants celebrated their first conference victory of 2023.
Joe Ulzheimer (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) led the way in net, playing 50:25 with 10 saves while allowing just six goals. The rookie improved to 3-3 in the cage and recorded his 100
th save of the season in the win.
Cody Johnston (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset) closed out the game with 9:35 of action in the fourth.
DeBenedetto was the leader of the Manhattanville defensive effort with eight ground balls and four caused turnovers. Padovani ended with seven grounders and was Manhattanville's leading faceoff man with 10 wins on the draw. He would also caused three Gold Eagle turnovers, while
Mike Mooney (Tappan, N.Y./Tappan Zee) and
Francisco Rosas (Stratford, Conn./Stratford) caused two takeaways a piece. Rosas would add six grounders of his own.
Up Next
The Valiants turn their attention to Saturday for a conference matchup at Farmingdale at 3 p.m.
VALIANTS on SOCIAL MEDIA For the latest on Manhattanville Athletics, follow the Valiants via social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. #WeAreValiant #GoValiants
