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RIVERDALE, N.Y. - Siena's Taylor D'Alfonso tallied a hat trick, scoring twice in the first and once in the second half, to help lift the Saints to a 3-1 victory over the Jaspers on a windy Saturday afternoon at Gaelic Park. It was the regular season finale for both teams and the final game at Gaelic Park for Manhattan seniors Shannon Barry, Martine Diamond, Keara Hunt, Alex Iovine, Jordan Luithle, Maria Sanzari and Janie Schlauder.
Siena struck first, just 10 minutes into the match, when Brittany Pfaff found D'Alfonso streaking down the left side. D'Alfonso calmly slid the ball to the near post and into the back of the net to give the Saints a 1-0 edge.
Seven minutes later, D'Alfonso capitalized on a Manhattan turnover in the back. With the Jaspers' keeper out of the play and the ball rolling toward the goal, D'Alfonso tapped it in to push the lead to 2-0.
Needing a goal, Manhattan applied pressure the rest of the half and it resulted in a goal with five minutes left. Aislinn McIlvenny threaded a perfect pass down the middle to Erica Modena, who made one touch and fired a shot past Siena keeper Taylor Booth for her fifth goal of the season, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
Down 2-1 at the beginning of the second half, McIlvenny nearly tied the match at 2-2 but Booth stopped her hard shot and McIlvenny's rebound went just wide at the 34-minute mark.
A minute later, D'Alfonso again capitalized on a Manhattan miscue. Manhattan keeper Kristen Skonieczny came out to grab a loose ball, collided with a Siena attacker and the ball kicked out to the corner. D'Alfonso pounced on it and fired it into the open net for her third goal of the day.
With the clock winding down to three minutes left in regulation, the Jaspers appeared to get one goal closer as McIlvenny found Emily Ude on a cross that Ude knocked home. But the linesman on the near side called offsides and the goal was not allowed.
Booth made five saves in goal for Siena, while Sanzari and Skonieczny combined for five saves for Manhattan.
The Jaspers will head to the 2013 MAAC Championships in Lake Buena Vista, Florida at the Wide World of Sports Complex. Manhattan is the tenth seed and will play seventh-seeded Quinnipiac in the opening round on Thursday, October 31. Game time is slated for 12:30 p.m.
NOTES:
All seven seniors started the match, including Jordan Luithle, who has been sidelined with an injury sustained earlier this season ... Modena's five goals are the second most among MAAC freshmen this season ... Aislinn McIlvenny had seven shots for Manhattan.
