Riverdale, N.Y. (April 1, 2006)-After a grueling seven-game span of road contests to begin the season, Manhattan Men's Lacrosse finally played its home opener on Saturday afternoon at Gaelic Park, and it was definitely "home sweet home" for the Jaspers and freshman Mark Labelle. Playing in front of the Jasper faithful for the first time in his collegiate career, Labelle exploded on the offensive end for a hat trick as Manhattan downed Saint Joseph's, 7-5.
It appeared that the Jaspers were happy to be home from the start, when
Kyle Serbay found the back of the net off of a pass from
Brian Wynne only 36 seconds into the contest. Less than four minutes later, Labelle, who entered the game with only two goals on the season, picked up a groundball and then fired a shot past Saint Joe goalie Eric Hotaling to put the Jaspers up 2-0.
The Hawks answered back with two consecutive scores, making things even at the end of the first quarter. Saint Joseph's continued its momentum into the second period, as Steve O'Brien converted a man-up opportunity into Saint Joe's first, and only, lead of the contest with 12:54 remaining in the second.
A little more than a minute later, Labelle put the Jasper faithful back on its feet, as he converted
Brian Murray's pass into his second goal of the game, knotting the score at 3-3. With a little more than five minutes left before halftime, Labelle struck again giving the Jaspers the lead for good. This time,
Greg Lewis set up the freshman for the score during a man-up opportunity.
Labelle then returned the favor to Lewis, as the freshman assisted Lewis on the Jaspers' fifth goal of the game with 8:47 left in the third period, opening the scoring in the second half.
The Jaspers 5-3 lead would eventually be extended to 7-3 on a goal apiece from the Marrano brothers, Angelo and Jeremy.
Saint Joe's netted two late goals, one from Alex McColough and the other from O'Brien, with less than two minutes left in the game to no avail.
Freshman goalie, and three-time MAAC Rookie of the Week,
John Geagan picked up the win in net for Manhattan. Geagan, however was only forced to make nine stops, as Manhattan controlled the ball for a good portion of the contest. Jasper defenseman
Corey Dolik added to his team-leading total of groundballs by picking up a game-high five on Saturday afternoon.
Manhattan will have exactly two weeks to enjoy the conference victory, which puts them at 3-5 overall, as the Jaspers do not return to action until April 15 in Buffalo.
