Brooklyn, N.Y. (February 23, 2008) ? On a cold day in Brooklyn, freshman Salvatore Perotto warmed up Manhattan with an overtime goal to give the Jaspers a 10-9 victory. After the game was switched to Aviator Sports Recreation Facility, junior Marc LaBelle accumulated the hat trick scoring two of his goals on man-up opportunities.
After the weather refused the Jaspers to have their home opener at Gaelic for the first time in two years, the game was originally scheduled to be played in Fairfield, Conn. The ice on their field forced Manhattan to Lloyd Bennett Field in Brookly, N.Y. where they captured a thrilling overtime win against Robert Morris University, 10-9.
The Jaspers went down early, 2-0 in the first quarter, but ended the quarter with a LaBelle man-up goal to cut trail 2-1 at the end. Manhattan then came and scored four consecutive goals in the second quarter and five total goals as at the half, the Jaspers were leading 6-4. Manhattan kept dominating the Colonials as they scored two goals early in the third quarter. But Robert Morris came back and soon tied the game up, 8-8 early in the four quarter. Towards the end of the quarter, the Colonials came through with a goal to take a 9-8 lead with just over three minutes left in the game. But Manhattan was not going to quit as Joseph Mahon fired one past the goalie to tie the game up with 1:13 remaining.
With the late goal, both teams knew they were heading for overtime. In the sudden-victory period, Manhattan won the opening face-off but turned the ball over as Robert Morris controlled the possession. After a great defensive stand, the Jaspers were not going to let this one slip by them. That is when Perotto flew through the air and rifled one into the net for the win.
Alongside LaBelle's hat trick, Brett Miranda tallied two goals on the day as seven different Jaspers scored in the game. The Manhattan defense stepped up their game as senior defensemen Corey Dolik grabbed a team high six ground balls. The phenomenal play of Shawn Gorinson helped Manhattan's offense kept going as Gorinson won 14 of 22 face-offs in the game. Gorinson also tallied five groundballs as Perotto finished the game with two assists.
The Jaspers start off the season 1-0 and will return to action next Saturday, March 1. They will play their second consecutive home game against Quinnipiac University. Game-time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
