PAXTON, Mass. – The Manhattanville College men's lacrosse team made their long-awaited season debut on Saturday afternoon as the Valiants defeated Anna Maria, 22-9. Eight different goal scorers would contribute to the victory, starting the 2024 campaign 1-0 overall. This would be the third year in a row that the Valiants would win their season opening matchup.

After serving as the Valiants' leading scorer last season with 59 goals, Nick Cornelia (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) picked up right where he left off in 2023. Cornelia erupted for a team-high nine goals and three assists for a total of 12 points, which was almost as many as the entire Amcats team. It was also a successful day for graduate student newcomer Michael Swift (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) who recorded nine points on six goals and three assists.

Joe Ulzheimer (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) earned the win in the crease for Manhattanville, the sixth victory of his young career. The sophomore goalie finished with eight saves through 49 minutes. Cody Johnston (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset) would take over for the final 11 minutes, recording a single save himself.

The Amcats would open scoring 3:17 into the contest as Ethan Quinn would find the back of the net on a man down. The Valiants would then respond by scoring back-to-back goals from Swift at 4:15 and 4:59 to take a 2-1 lead. The first quarter would continue with offensive dominance from Manhattanville as five more goals came by way of five different players. Rookie Nick Corace (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) would get his first collegiate goal at 5:16 followed by Cornelia scoring his first of the season at 6:14. There will be plenty more goals where that came from. Then Dylan Foley (Northport, N.Y./Northport) would get one on the board for the Valiants. Almost five minutes later, Sean Larkin (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) would score on a man up keeping the good times rolling as Swift would tally himself another. He would prove to be an early asset for this team. Anna Maria would get their second goal from Liam Bedenkop after almost ten minutes of play. It would then be back-to-back goals from Cornelia to close out the quarter with a score of 9-2.

Just as the first quarter started, the same would go for the second as Eric Farrell would score on the man up for Anna Maria. Cornelia would respond with another as it became a back-and-forth affair as Farrell and Cornelia would each score another through the first half. Matt Bundy (Cinnaminson, N.J./Cinnaminson) would get one on the board for the Valiants at 7:45 as Cornelia would come around and score yet again. Swift would then follow up with a man down goal at 13:58. The Amcats would score prior to halftime off a shot from Hank Gittines in the man up for a 14-5 score.

It would be another bout of the Amcats getting on the board first to start the quarter as a pair from Jeremy Dewar and Aidan Foster would bring Anna Maria within seven. It would then be four straight from the Valiants as Cornelia would score a pair, while Corace and Swift tallied one apiece. Farrell would then score his third of the day as Cornelia would respond with his ninth and final goal of the game.

The final quarter of regulation saw the least amount of goals between the two teams. At 2:08, Swift would score his sixth goal of the day for the Valiants as Dom Javaney and Tyler Berch (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset) would each score a goal. As the clock ticked down, Gittines would fire one off on a man up to score for the Amcats and Manhattanville would pull off the 22-9 victory.

The Valiants would outshoot the Amcats 65-38 with Cornelia firing off 19 shots and Swift following closely behind with 18 total. Beside shots and final score, the game was evenly matched in terms of stats including faceoffs, caused turnovers, and ground balls. The Valiants would cause 17 total turnovers as Swift alongside Matthew Newman (Yonkers, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) caused a team-high three turnovers, the Amcats recorded 13 CTs. The opposition would hold an advantage in faceoffs, winning 18 to the Valiants' 16. Rookie Aaron Goldstein (Walden, N.Y./Valley Central) would have a team-high 10 draws, while Nick Padovani (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) would add six. Manhattanville collected 38 ground balls, while Anna Maria grabbed 44.

Manhattanville will open their season at home on Sunday, Feb. 25 as they host Wilkes University on GoValiants.com Field at 1 p.m.

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