PURCHASE, N.Y. — The Manhattanville University men's lacrosse team wrapped up its week of home games on Saturday, hosting Nichols College for an afternoon tilt. The Valiants dropped the 9-5 defensive battle to the Bison, falling to 1-5 on the year. 

The Valiants were led by a three-point performance by Jake Strobel (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains), with the senior scoring twice and adding an assist. Drew Palladino (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) added a pair of goals, while Tyler Berch (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset) tacked on his fourth goal of the season. 

The Bison took the lead with a pair of goals in the opening five and a half minutes. Strobel responded for the Valiants two minutes later, finishing a feed from Nick Corace (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) with the man advantage. Palladino went of to net the equalizer with 5:41 left in the opening quarter. Nichols broke the tie in the closing minute as Jonah Libby scored with 49 seconds left on the clock. The Bison fed off the momentum with three more goals in the second to take a 6-2 lead into halftime. 

The Valiants went on the offensive to start the third, scoring three of the half's first four goals to cut the deficit down to two. Strobel scored his second with the man advantage 34 seconds into the action before Berch struck for minutes later. The Bison got one back from Tyler Olivo before Palladino took advantage of another Nichols penalty to scored the Valiants' third man-up goal of the afternoon from Strobel with 5:36 left in the quarter.

Jackson Hernandez ended the Valiants' scoring run with the final goal of the third with four mintues to play. Neither attack found much success in the closing 15 minutes, with the Bison adding a final insurance tally with 3:43 left in regulation.

Joe Ulzheimer (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) made 14 saves in the Valiant cage. Through six games, the senior has 79 saves and a .541 save percentage, allowing 12.21 goals per contest. 

Frank Tallerico (Monroe Township, N.J./Monroe Township) led the Valiants' ground ball effort, matching his career-high with five. Tim Beahm (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) and Shea Madden (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) scooped three grounders each, with Madden leading the caused turnover department with four. Beahm also caused havoc for Nichols with three forced turnovers. 

Chris Guazzo (Rye, N.Y./Rye High School) accounted for all four of Manhattanville's faceoff wins.

Up Next: 

The Valiants will return to the field for their final non-conference game of the season next Saturday as they head to King's College for a 1 p.m. tilt. 

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