NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Manhattan Jaspers Men's Lacrosse team (2-5, 0-1 MAAC) dropped the opening conference game to the Gaels of Iona University (1-9, 1-1 MAAC) by a score of 16-12 inside Mazzella Field on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Within the first four minutes, the Green and White opened with numerous offensive opportunities, including four shots by Manhattan, which eventually led to Jack Miller finding the back of the net on a pass from Nick Henry.
- After the Gaels responded with a pair of its own on its home turf, the Jaspers cleared the ball after an Iona turnover to allow Nick Henry to score his fourth goal of the year and tie the game at two.
- The home team responded with another two goals before the Jaspers opened the second quarter with Liam Peabody finding the back of the net for his third goal, and the Jaspers' third of the game to shrink their deficit to just one.
- With the Jaspers trailing by two for the third time, Connor Engel responded just 25 seconds after the Gaels put forth their fifth goal of the game.
- Nearly seven minutes had elapsed before either side had scored again, until Peabody found Henry for his second goal of the game to again narrow the deficit to just one for Manhattan.
- Building momentum down the stretch were the Green and White, who put together a Matthew Pantorno goal off his own ground ball to tie the game at six with 45 seconds remaining in the half.
- In the third quarter, both teams traded goals to tie the game at seven, courtesy of Thomas White, exactly three minutes into the stanza.
- Then, it was Nick Henry for his third goal roughly nine minutes into the quarter, before the Gaels put together three consecutive goals for either side's largest lead of the day.
- The Jaspers responded with back-to-back goals from Thomas White in a span of a minute and 25 seconds to enter the fourth quarter trailing by one for the fourth time in the game.
- Rather quickly into the fourth quarter, the Gaels struck fast with two goals to expand their lead back to three.
- After a pair of Manhattan clears with five minutes and change remaining, Sean Shelko found the back of the net, before Liam Peabody added his fourth of the year to narrow the lead back to one for the fifth time.
- The Gaels controlled the remaining three minutes by tallying three goals in roughly two minutes to take the Jaspers out of reach on their home turf.
STATS AND NOTES
- Nick Henry paced the Jaspers with three goals and three assists on six shots with three on target, while picking up one ground ball on the afternoon.
- Midfielder Thomas White logged three goals on the day with five shots on target while picking up one ground ball.
- Liam Peabody added two goals, with one assist on eight shots. Seven of those were on target.
- Faceoff specialist Casey Klossner logged one shot on target and scooped a career high 18 ground balls. Klossner also notched 22 faceoff victories in 30 draws.
- Defender Matthew Pantorno supplied one goal on one shot on goal, while picking up four ground balls in the effort.
- Attack Connor Engel registered one goal on five shots, with four on target. Engel scooped four ground balls.
- Midfielder Jack Miller also recorded one goal on two shots, while grabbing one ground ball.
- Attack Sean Shelko posted one goal on as many shots on target and caused one turnover.
- The Jaspers led the way with 43 shots, compared to 39 for the Gaels. Manhattan outshot Iona in the first and second quarters, before being outshot in the third by a margin of -5.
- Manhattan picked up 41 ground balls, while Iona picked up 36. The Jaspers also won 23 faceoffs, while Iona logged only eight winners.
NEXT UP:
Manhattan returns to action on Saturday, March 21, when the Jaspers trek to the Capital Region to face the Saints of Siena University for a 12 p.m. start inside Hickey Field. The contest can be viewed on ESPN+ with a paid subscription.
Follow Manhattan Jaspers' Men's Lacrosse on X (@ManhattanMLAX) and Instagram (@ManhattanLax)
