Box Score
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RIVERDALE, N.Y. - Senior forward Caroline Morse sent a message on Friday night that the Lady Jaspers' offensive slumber was over as the Manhattan women's soccer team rallied to a 2-0 victory over Bryant (2-7-1) at Gaelic Park. Morse posted her second and third goals of the season helping Manhattan (2-5-1) snap a six game winless streak and remain undefeated at home.
"It feels fantastic," said Lady Jaspers head coach Brendan Lawler commenting on the victory. "It is a real big psychological boost for the girls. To their credit, throughout the last road trip they never stopped fighting. We didn't get the results we wanted, but they came to work every day and pressed and we knew it would come."
Manhattan wasted little time before getting on the scoreboard. In the 13th minute, Morse struck for her first tally of the night. Junior forward Megan Lavecchia created the opportunity by working the right side of the goal. The Pomona, N.Y. native sent a precise pass to Morse who accepted the feed while crossing through the box and finished inside the left post.
The Lady Jaspers bombarded Bryant with 13 shots to the Bulldogs three in the first half. Bryant goalkeeper Lauren Viverito came up with five of her seven saves in the first 45 minutes, limiting Manhattan to just a one goal lead at the break.
Nearly six minutes into the second half Manhattan added a second goal to its ledger when Morse put home the 19th of her career, which ranks tied for fifth in program history. The play was set up by a superb long pass by junior midfielder Claire Reinhard which hit freshman Martine Diamond on the run up the right side. In a 2-on-1 opportunity with the goalie, Diamond unselfishly dished a pass off to Morse who finished on the open net.
"It feels great, because we haven't been scoring a lot," said Morse on her two goal effort. "I think its all starting to come together for us, and other girls are going to start stepping it up too."
Lady Jaspers' goalkeeper Kara Davis had a quiet night thanks to tremendous backline support from senior co-captain Kara Bucci, juniors Devon Lutz and Reinhard, along with sophomore Sara Jones and freshman Alex Iovine. Davis saw just eight shots and made three saves in her second shutout of the year.
"We had a ton of opportunities today and finished two of them," explained Lawler. "It just feels great to get back on the winning side. It's exactly what we need as we get close to MAAC play."
Manhattan returns to the turf on Sunday when the Lady Jaspers host Cornell at Gaelic Park. Kick off is slated for 10 a.m.
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