Riverdale, NY (May 5, 2005)- Heading into this weekend's MAAC Championships as the third seed, the Manhattan men's lacrosse team will take on second-seeded Mount St. Mary's for the second time in less than a week, as the Jaspers will face the Mount Friday at 4:00 pm at Marist in the semifinals of the 2005 MAAC Championships.
After Manhattan and Mount St. Mary's face off in the first semifinal, top-seeded Providence and fourth-seeded and host Marist will play in the day's second semifinal, with the two winners to compete for the MAAC Championship on Sunday, May 8, at noon at Leonidoff Field on Marist's campus. The winner of the MAAC Championship will receive an automatic qualifier (AQ) to the NCAA Tournament, scheduled to begin on Saturday, May 14.
This season, the Jaspers and Mountaineers each ended the regular season with a 6-2 record in MAAC play, but the Mount earned the higher seed due to its 14-11 win against Manhattan on April 30 in the regular season finale for both teams.
Senior
Justin Otto currently leads Manhattan in points (42) and goals (31), and is the Jaspers' all-time leading goal scorer with 126 career markers. Otto also ranks second among active players in Division 1 with 126 career goals, only six behind Cornell's Sean Greenhalgh. Second on the team in points is fellow senior
Eugene Tanner, who has posted 14 goals and 19 assists this season. The all-time leader at Manhattan in points (185) and assists (87), Tanner is two goals away from 100 career goals.
This marks the first time that Manhattan has qualified for the MAAC Championships in consecutive seasons, while this senior class has made it to the MAAC Championships in three of its four years at Manhattan--also a first for the program. Last season, the Jaspers came in as the fourth seed and defeated top-seeded Marist in the semifinals after the Red Foxes finished the regular season undefeated, with an 8-0 record in the MAAC. However, Manhattan fell to Providence in the championship game, 11-6.
In 2002, the Jaspers brought home their first MAAC Championship, defeating St. Joseph's in the semifinals and then capturing a 9-8 decision over Mount St. Mary's in the finals to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the program's 10-year history.
