Eastchester, N.Y. (April 25, 2007)? Providence College kept alive its hopes of returning to the MAAC Tournament, while terminating any chance Manhattan Men's Lacrosse had at qualifying for the four-team post-season tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Eastchester Field. Bobby Labadini's goal with 2:33 remaining in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference in the Friars' 5-4 victory.
Labadini was nearly 20 yards out in front of the cage when he netted the game winner. The sophomore attackman fired the ball through a crowd of players, and it found its way past a screened John Geagan and into the upper right corner of the twine.
Geagan, Manhattan's sophomore goalie, made four saves on the day, but faced only eight total shots on goal thanks to the defensive play of freshman Kyle Ochwat and senior Tim Clancy. The defensive duo of young and old led a defense that forced Providence to fire a number of shots way wide of the cage. Ochwat also caused three turnovers and picked up four groundballs.
Manhattan (6-8, 3-4 MAAC) had a prime opportunity to pull even when Providence (4-9, 4-3 MAAC) was whistled for a pushing penalty with 1:22 left in regulation. The Jaspers were unable to take advantage of the 30-seconds man up opportunity, but maintained possession after the penalty release. In the game's final seconds, Jasper freshman Matt Ryan ripped a shot that sailed high above the crossbar as the horn sounded.
With the defending MAAC Champion Friars nursing a 4-3 lead early on in the fourth quarter, Manhattan sophomore Angelo Marrano slipped around the left side of the defense and buried into the lower right corner of the net. The goal, which came with 9:05 to play in the fourth quarter, was Marrano's second of the day. The sophomore has now scored multiple goals in two of his last three games as he tallied four in last week's 16-5 thumping of Wagner College.
After Providence took a 1-0 less than a minute into the contest on Bennett Murphy's goal, Manhattan eventually answered back with two first quarter goals of its own less than a minute apart. Ryan was responsible for the first Jasper tally, which came during a man up situation with 7:25 to play in the opening period. Exactly 49 seconds later, Marrano put his team ahead, 2-1, with his first score of the contest.
Senior Brian Murray added another Jasper goal with 10:45 remaining in the second quarter as Manhattan took a 3-1 advantage into the dressing room.
Fighting for their post-season lives, Providence outscored the Jaspers 3-0 during the third quarter of play. Bennett netted two of the Friar's three goals in the quarter to complete the hat trick.
Manhattan is slated to close out its 2007 season on Saturday, April 28 against Canisius College at 12:00 p.m. The game will be played at Tappan Zee High School due to the refurbishment of Gaelic Park.