PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville men's soccer team delivered one of its most dominant performances of the season on Saturday afternoon, cruising past St. Joseph's Brooklyn 9-0 in a home victory. The win was fueled by a second-half explosion that featured a hat trick from senior forward Nico Del Vescovo (Flanders, N.J./Mount Olive) and near-hat tricks from both Alec Pineda (Yonkers, N.Y./Port Chester) and Griffin Van Cott (Goshen, N.Y./Goshen).
The Valiants wasted no time asserting control in the first half. Just three minutes in, Pineda opened the scoring off an assist from Alex Bacchiocchi (Groton, Conn./Fitch), setting the tone for the team. Six minutes later, Aiden Sivio (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) doubled the advantage with a composed finish set up by Guido Sarango (Syracuse, N.Y./Nottingham). Pineda then struck again in the 14th minute to make it 3-0, giving the junior midfielder his second goal of the day. Despite multiple chances to complete his hat trick and several saves by St. Joseph's keeper Edwin Sacramento—the Valiants carried a commanding lead going into halftime.
Head Coach Sean Reilly rotated his lineup to start the second half, but the firepower only grew stronger. Just four minutes into the period, Del Vescovo made an instant impact, burying a feed from Tiernan McLaughlin (Yonkers, N.Y./Fordham Prep) to push the score to 4-0. Del Vescovo found the back of the net again less than two minutes later, before capping off his memorable day in the 80th minute with a superb finish to secure his first collegiate hat trick.
Van Cott joined the scoring frenzy, tallying goals in the 56th and 71st minutes to further the Valiants advantage and nearly make it a hat trick of his own. McLaughlin rounded out the nine-goal effort in the 88th minute—his second goal contribution of the day after assisting Del Vescovo's opener.
On the defensive end, AJ Lucas (Beacon, N.Y./Beacon) anchored another shutout in goal, as Manhattanville's back line limited St. Joseph's to just one shot the entire match. The Valiants controlled possession and corners throughout, recording 32 shots with 22 on goal and 13 corners.
The Valiants return to the pitch at home on Saturday October 18th, when they face Maritime College at 3 PM.
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