PURCHASE, N.Y. - Using an offensive barrage of 24 shots, eleven of which were on net, the Manhattanville University men's soccer team secured their first win of the 2024 campaign over Hunter, 5-2. With the result, the Valiants now reside at 1-2-1 on the young season. 

The Valiants jumped out to an early lead five minutes into the contest, when Guido Saranga (Syracuse, N.Y./Nottingham) whipped in a ball from a corner, caroming off the cranium of Alec Pineda (Port Chester, N.Y./Port Chester), finding the head of Demba Cham (Bronx, NY/World View High School) for the first tally of the contest. Just before the ten-minute mark, netminder Luis Granados (Pasadena, Calif./St. Francis) pinged a ball from his own box, sparking a run for Pineda who finished it off the sliding goalkeepers' body for the 2-0 lead. 

Hunter sliced the score in half at the 26-minute mark, after a defensive breakdown on the right-side, Leonardo Kaplan tapped the ball across the top of the six-yard box to Ben Avakook, who slotted it home, putting the score at 2-1. With only one shot on target for both sides, the score remained at 2-1 as the halftime whistle blew. 

In similar fashion to the first frame, Manhattanville found the back netting under five minutes into the second stanza, with substitute Alessio Scanapieco (Westerly, R.I./LaSalle Academy) linking with fellow sub Jostyn Blanco (Norwalk, Conn./Brien Mcmahon High School), finding Blanco across the box to push the lead to 3-1. Scanapieco collected his second assist of the contest, when he dribbled the ball close to the Hawks' touchline, finding an open John Castaneda (Howell, N.J./Howell) on the back post. Leonardo Kaplan put Hunter closer after he controlled a ball played in from the left wing, shooting at the Valiants netminder, but following up his own shot to ripple the net for the 4-2 score. Castaneda netted his brace in the 89th minute after Leo Marsella (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Mamaroneck) flicked a short corner to the wide-open back post, with Castaneda heel-flicking it into the side netting for the final score of 5-2. 

Graduate netminder Granados spent all ninety minutes between the posts, producing five saves. 

Manhattanville paced the Hawks with the aforementioned 24 shots compared to 16, with an 11-to-7 shots on goal differential. 

Up Next 

The Valiants head to the Keystone State to take on Penn State Abington, on Sept. 11 at 3:30 p.m. 

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