WEST POINT, N.Y. - Despite trailing by just three going into halftime, the Army Black Knights (1-1) used a 6-3 third quarter en route to defeating Manhattan 14-8 on Wednesday afternoon. It was the first ever meeting between the two programs, and the seventh time the Jaspers (0-2) have faced a service academy with all six prior meetings being with Air Force.
Manhattan started off the contest right as Tyler Eidel notched his first career goal at the 11:26 mark in the first quarter off a feed from Ryan Payton. The Jaspers lead would be short-lived however as Army would score the next four goals, including two in 40 seconds from Connor Cook and Alex Newsome. After Will Mazzone made it a 3-1 Black Knights lead, Manhattan's defense stiffened up, allowing only one more goal the rest of the half.
Unfortunately for the Jaspers, so did Army's. Trailing 4-1 heading into the second half, Newsome scored the second of his three goals to make it a four goal deficit. Senior Tyler Jarvis would get Manhattan back on the board a minute later to cut the lead to 5-2 with 11:18 to play in the third.
A potent Black Knight offense would score three more goals in a row to lead 8-2 before Jon Crean quited the Army run. Manhattan would inch a little closer when Eidel scored the second of his three goals at the 6:48 mark in the third quarter. With both teams looking to capture some added momentum, the Black Knights would find it adding two more goals in the period to lead 10-4 going into the final frame.
The Jaspers began the fourth on a hot streak, notching two goals in the first four minutes. Jarvis added his second score of the night while Marcel Godino made it a four goal game with just under 11 minutes remaining. However, the Black Knights pushed the game back out of reach, controlling possession for the majority of the time and scoring four of the final six goals.
Mike Casson scored a man-up goal with 5:49 left in regulation, but back-to-back strikes by Army made it a 14-7 game with just under four minutes left. Eidel would record the first hat-trick of his career thanks to an assist from Jarvis, who finished with three points, with 2:28 remaining.
Army's offense peppered the Manhattan defense firing a total of 53 shots, including 21 in the third quarter. The Black Knights utilized their extra-man opportunities, scoring on four of the eight EMO's awarded to them. The Jaspers were just 1-7 in that category, and turned the ball over 21 times in the loss.
Newsome finished with a game high five points while the nation's second leading active scorer, Garrett Thul, had a game best four goals for Army.
Sophomore goalkeeper Michael Wiatrak did have another career day for Manhattan, making 20 saves while pulling in three ground balls. The 20 saves were the most for a Jasper goalkeeper since Feb. 26, 2011 when Rich Akapnitis made 21 in a loss at Robert Morris.
The Jaspers will resume their season on Sat., Feb., 23 when they host Lafayette at 1 p.m. in their home opener at Gaelic Park.