Riverdale, NY – Senior captain Sarah Lang (Golden's Bridge, NY / Vermont) tallied her sixth hat trick in seven games, but Manhattan could not overcome a hot start from La Salle and fell 16-9 in a Friday matinee at Gaelic Park.
With the win, the Explorers improve to 3-4 on the season. The Jaspers end their modest two-game winning streak and also move to 3-4 in 2018.
La Salle controlled the tempo early, rattling off four straight goals in the first nine minutes of the ballgame. Leading scorer and team captain Brittany Edwards was responsible for two of the goals.
Manhattan stopped the run at the 20:32 mark of the first half. Freshman Grace Owens (Tampa, FL / H.B. Plant) danced behind the net and threw a pass in front. In one fluid motion, Lang moved towards Owens and deflected the loose ball past Explorer keeper Lynne Frankel to cut the deficit to 4-1.
After the road team extended its lead to 5-1, the Jasper defense forced a shot clock violation with eight minutes until halftime. In transition, Ashley Blanton fouled Lang inside the semicircle. The senior converted on the free-position attempt for Manhattan's second goal of the half.
As the second frame began with the Explorers up 6-2, both teams traded goals in the first 10 minutes. Junior Talia Price (Kinnelon, NJ / Kinnelon) shook off two defenders and fired a shot across her body for her lone goal of the day. Senior Kara Hodapp (Oak Ridge, NJ / Jefferson Township) burst up the middle for a score and junior Molly Fitzpatrick (Yorktown, NY / Lakeland) sniped a goal from the left alley. La Salle led 9-5 at that point with 20:27 on the clock.
That was the closest the Jaspers climbed to the Explorers, however. Bridget Ruskey scored twice in a row for an 11-5 advantage halfway through the period.
Hodapp capitalized on a man-up opportunity and Lang swept around the net on the left side to complete her hat trick, but La Salle scored twice again and later extended its advantage to 14-7 with just over six and a half minutes to play.
Lang added her fourth score off a feed up top from Molly Fitzpatrick, sneaking it inside the post from the left of the net. Fitzpatrick worked around traffic in front of the net to add her second of the contest at the two-minute mark, but Ruskey capped the day with her fourth goal just 10 seconds later.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Lang has scored four goals in back-to-back games and done so three times this year.
- Now with 22 goals on the season, Lang is now four goals shy of her career-high of 26 goals set in 2017.
- With four points on the day, Fitzpatrick moved into 16th place on Manhattan's all-time scoring list with 106 points, passing her former teammate Stephanie Ranagan '16 and Lauren Cirardi '07.
- As each had multiple points on the afternoon, Lang (four goals) and Fitzpatrick (two goals, two assists) now have six multi-point games this year. Hodapp (two goals, one assist) has five on her campaign.
- Freshman Carmella Liscio (Blauvelt, NY / Tappan Zee) recorded a career-high six draw controls. Junior Emma Kaishian (Yorktown, NY / Yorktown) won a season-high five draws.
- Junior Jillian Calandra (Sewell, NJ / Washington Township) led all players with four caused turnovers, while sophomore Susan Morad (Manassas, VA / Bishop Ireton) did the same with four ground balls.
Manhattan has a quick turnaround, welcoming Wagner to Gaelic Park on Sunday, March 18 at 1:00 pm for its final non-conference game of 2018.