Riverdale, N.Y. (October 8, 2006)-The Lady Jaspers used three unanswered goals in the second half to defeat Marist 3-1 on Sunday morning at Gaelic Park. In the process Manhattan (8-4-1; 1-2-1 MAAC) earns its first MAAC win of the season.
In a game that was a tale of two halves, Marist out shot Manhattan 14-5 in the first half and controlled possession, yet could only come up with one goal for their efforts. In the second half, Manhattan clamped down defensively and turned up the pressure on offense, capitalizing on their chances for three goals.
The big reason why Marist only came away with one goal in the first half was the stellar play of goalie
Alicia DeFino. The junior keeper from Mineola, N.Y. stood firm in the face of Marist's attack, coming up with big save after big save. In all, DeFino came up eight saves in the first half, setting a season high for saves in just 45 minutes of play.
Marist's goal came with just over 15 minutes left in the half after a scramble for a loose ball was corralled by Kristen Leonhard and put in the net from in close.
In the second half, the Lady Jaspers were a different team. Marist came away with just three shots while Manhattan generated better scoring chances and took advantage of them.
Less than four minutes into the second half, freshman
Alexandra Konneker tied the game with assists from
Christine Abrams and
Courtney McMahon. Konneker struck a shot from the left side of the box after taking a pass from Abrams. The goal was Konneker's third of the season, Abrams picked up her third point in two games, and McMahon's assist tied her for the team lead with
Amanda Fischer.
With time running down in the second half, McMahon put the Lady Jaspers in front and provided what was the winning goal. Taking a pass from
Rachel Pannullo, McMahon fired strongly from 10 yards out, beating Marist goalie Kristen Aliperti up top for her first goal of the season.
At the 87:59 mark,
Kimarie Balistierri provided an insurance goal and made sure this game wouldn't go to overtime. Pannullo picked up her second assist of the game by feeding Balistierri a pass that set her free on a breakaway. With a defender draped all over her, Balistierri fought off the contact and delivered her second goal of the season.
Up next, the Lady Jaspers take a break from MAAC play and welcome in Delaware State to Gaelic Park on Wednesday, kick-off time is at 3:00 p.m. In last season's meeting, Manhattan came away with a 4-0 victory.
