Box Score
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - The Manhattan women's lacrosse team dropped a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) decision, 15-14, to the Saints at Siena Turf Field on Wednesday evening.
The Jaspers mounted a comeback in the first half to knot the score at seven after a half hour of play. They trailed again in the latter stages of the second stanza, when a late push left them just short of tying the game in the final minute of play.
Manhattan is now 0-3 in games decided by one goal.
With the loss, the Jaspers move to 2-9, including 0-3 in MAAC play. Siena steps above .500, improving to 6-5 overall and 1-1 against conference opponents.
The Saints led by as many as three on three separate occasions in the second half, but the Jaspers displayed great resiliency by shrinking the deficit each time until they failed to come all the way back in the final minute of play.
Siena sophomore Brianna Sirianni scored her hat trick goal with 3:20 remaining in regulation to provide the Saints with a 15-12 edge. Manhattan senior Domenica O'Brey (Loudonville, N.Y. / Colonie Central) scored with :29 left in the game. Junior co-captain Megan Yarusso (Brewster, N.Y. / Brewster) added her fourth goal of the outing with ten seconds to play to make it 15-14, but the Jaspers ran out of time for an equalizer.
The contest proved to be a true game of runs, especially in the first half. Junior Stefanie Ranagan (Yorktown Heights, N.Y. / Yorktown) opened the scoring with a goal for Manhattan 7:33 into the opening frame.
Siena responded with a quick 4-0 spurt over a 2:07 span to take a 4-1 lead. Manhattan answered quickly with a 3-0 run of its own to knot the score at four with 15:59 to play in the first half. Senior Donna Jo DiNorcia (Verona, N.J. / Verona) scored her first of a career-high and game-high six goals before freshman Kara Hodapp (Oak Ridge, N.J. / Jefferson Township) tallied to make it 4-3. DiNorcia buried another goal to tie the game at four.
Siena rattled off three consecutive goals to bring its lead back to three before the Jaspers concluded the half on a 3-0 run to send both teams into the locker room tied at seven.
DiNorcia accumulated a career-high seven points (6G, 1A) in the contest. Yarusso registered a season-high five-point effort (4G, 1A) and junior co-captain Kaitlyn Cunningham (Spring Lake, N.J. / Red Bank Catholic) scored four points (1G, 3A).
Defensively, DiNorcia led the team with four ground balls. Senior starting goalkeeper and co-captain Christina Fiorinelli (Massapequa, N.Y. / Massapequa) made ten saves on the evening.
The Jaspers return to action on Saturday, April 4, when they take on Quinnipiac in MAAC play at Gaelic Park. The opening draw control is slated for 11 a.m.