Philadelphia, Pa. (April 7, 2007)?The City of Brotherly Love has not been very loving toward Manhattan Men's Lacrosse this season. In what was their second trip of the season to Philadelphia, Pa., the Jaspers dropped a non-conference contest to the Villanova Wildcats, 12-6, on Saturday afternoon.
Manhattan's first trip to Philadelphia ended in heart-breaking fashion as Saint Joseph's worked overtime to steal a 9-8 conference victory from the Jaspers.
It was not an overtime goal, but the Villanova defense that put away Manhattan on Saturday afternoon, holding the Jaspers scoreless for a span of 29:40. Manhattan goalie John Geagan, who was tough in the cage with 13 saves, made an effort to keep the his squad within striking distance, surrendering only four goals during that stretch.
After Villanova jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Andy German and Eric Webber only 1:46 into the contest, senior Brian Murray put Manhattan on the board with his 17th goal of the season at the 9:31 mark of the opening period.
The Jaspers' next tally did not come until senior Kyle Serbay beat Nova goaltender Andrew DiLoreto to cut the Wildcat advantage to 6-2 with 9:51 remaining in the third quarter. Exactly 1:46 later, sophomore attackman Marc LaBelle netted his ninth goal of the year off of senior Jeremy Marrano's pass to pull the Jaspers within three, but they would get no closer.
The Wildcats proceeded to sandwich five goals around Jasper sophomore Angelo Marrano's fifth tally of 2007 to increase their lead to 11-4.
Manhattan's final two goals were compliments of freshman Matt Ryan and Murray, who increased his team leading total to 18.
Only one more non-conference date awaits Manhattan on its 2007 schedule as the Jaspers are slated to visit Yale University on April 15 in what will be the first meeting with an Ivy League member in program history. Saturday's contest at Nova would have signaled the conclusion of the Jaspers' out-of conference slate had the Yale game not been postponed due to severe weather conditions in March.
Manhattan will first have the task of hosting Mt. St. Mary's College in a crucial MAAC contest with post-season implications on April 14 at 1:00 p.m.