The MU men’s lacrosse team dominated Manhattan College for their first MAAC victory in the 2016 season Saturday, winning 10-5 in a game in which they never trailed.
Four of MU’s ten goals came from the stick of junior attacker Chris Daly, in an effort where eight different Hawks registered a point.
“The staff and I are proud of how hard we played this afternoon,” MU head coach Brian Fisher said. “The effort, energy and excitement was contagious and once we settled into the game we began to play well.”
MU immediately took charge of the first half when reigning MAAC Rookie of the Week and freshman attacker Eamon Campbell set Daly up for one of his three goals of the half within the first two minutes of regulation, and they never looked back. After Manhattan freshman attacker Parker Giarrantana answered with a goal on the following faceoff, MU sophomore attacker Bryce Wasserman scored with two minutes remaining in the first quarter, sparking a five-goal run for the Hawks.
Entering the second quarter leading 3-1, MU increased its lead behind a pair of goals from Daly and a marker from redshirt sophomore midfielder Dylan Schulte before Manhattan halted the run with a goal from junior midfielder Alex Abiog at the 4:31 minute mark. The Hawks headed into halftime with a 6-2 lead.
Campbell opened up the second half by netting a goal from a Wasserman pass, extending his goal-streak to five games. Two minutes later Abiog scored again for the Jaspers, but the Hawks fought back with two goals in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. Freshman attacker Cole Johnson and Abiog scored for the Jaspers to pull within 9-5 with 5:30 left, but Berger scored with 3:36 left to seal the victory for the Hawks.
“Manhattan does a nice job keeping you off balance with a lot of different actions and while we were not perfect today, we handled the moment pretty well and responded each time they got some momentum,” added Fisher.
Monmouth outshot Manhattan 40-26 and was successful in 13 of its 14 clear attempts. MU junior goalkeeper Nick Hreshko batted away four Jasper shots in the contest.
The Blue and White return to action on Saturday, Apr. 2 taking on Canisius in Buffalo, NY. The contest is set to start at 1 p.m.
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth Athletics
