RIVERDALE, N.Y. - Three different freshman combined for eight goals, including Stefanie Ranagan's career high five as the Manhattan women's lacrosse team earned a 10-6 victory over LIU-Brooklyn at Gaelic Park on Wednesday night. The win snapped a three game skid for the Jaspers (1-3) while sending the Blackbirds (0-4) to their fourth straight loss.
While Ranagan stole the spotlight, classmate Claire Roediger got the scoring started less than 90 seconds into the contest. Ranagan would follow with a man-up goal off a free-position shot, to make the score 2-0 with 25:12 to play in the first half. LIU-Brooklyn would get on the board when Colleen Holmes scored a free-position goal to cut the deficit in half. Ranagan countered with another tally at the 19:32 mark before Shakoya Smith scored for the Blackbirds to make the score 3-2 at halftime.
In a game that was very tightly officiated, the Jaspers man-down defense was impressive. Both Donna Jo DiNorcia and Maria Aloe picked up yellow cards with less than thirty seconds to play in the first stanza. Out of the break, Kelsey Rehain would pick up another penalty, putting Manhattan down three players for 44 seconds.
The foul also occurred as goalkeeper Christina Fiorinelli was caught out of the crease. When play resumed, LIU-Brooklyn struck almost immediately when Smith fed Kimberly Kovar for the game tying goal. That would be the only man-up goal the Manhattan would allow as the Blackbirds finished 1-5 on the game.
The Blackbirds would take their first, and only, lead of the game a little over two minutes later when Brittany Rader notched her only goal on the night for a 4-3 advantage. From there, the Jaspers would go on a seven goal run to put the contest away. Their defense also held LIU-Brooklyn for over 24 minutes to eventually go up 10-4. Ranagan, who scored three goals in the run, started things off with a feed from Roediger at the 20:45 mark.
Other players to score over the stretch were Carly Eskenazi, Megan Yarusso, and Maria Toscano. In total eight players registered points in the win. Roediger, Yarusso and Ranagan each had multi-point affairs. Shakoya Smith led the Blackbirds with three points, including two goals.
Fiorinelli ended the game with 10 saves in the win while Gina Harber made 11 stops for LIU-Brooklyn. Along with her goal, DiNorcia also had a game high seven ground balls, and four draw controls. Manhattan's defense was very impressive, forcing 21 turnovers, picking up 26 ground balls and holding the Blackbirds to 13-19 on clear attempts.
The Jaspers now embark on their largest road swing of the season as they play three straight away from Gaelic Park. It begins as they visit St. Joseph's on Sat., March 9, for a 12 p.m. tilt.