Manhattan Tops Mount St. Mary's 5-3 in MAAC Semifinal Action
MAAC Sports
BUFFALO, N.Y. ? Manhattan College sophomore Sal Perrotto scored three goals, highlighted by the game-winner with 5:47 left in regulation time, and junior James Synowiez scored twice as the third-seeded Jaspers defeated No. 2 Mount St. Mary’s 5-3 in the second semifinal game of the 2009 MAAC Men’s Lacrosse League Championship Friday afternoon at the Demske Sports Complex in Buffalo, N.Y.
The win allows Manhattan (10-7) to advance to the MAAC Men’s Lacrosse League Championship game for the fourth time in program history and for the first time since 2004. The Jaspers will meet top-seed Siena Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m., for the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Tournament. Mount St. Mary’s sees its season end with an overall 5-10 record.
Perrotto and Synowiez combined to score the first two goals of the game for Manhattan. Perrotto put Manhattan on the board first with his 19th goal of the season, an unassisted goal, with 9:50 left on the clock in the first quarter. The Jaspers’ lead remained 1-0 until the 9:44 mark of the second quarter when Synowiez, the 2009 MAAC Men’s Lacrosse League Offensive Player of the Year, scooped up a ground ball and fired it past Mountaineer goalkeeper T.C. DiBatolo for his 41st tally of the season. The Jaspers went into the locker room at halftime leading 2-0 despite being outshot 24-11 in the game’s first 30 minutes.
In the second half, Mount St. Mary’s junior Drew Dunn helped cut Manhattan’s cushion to 2-1 with his second goal of the season 3:07 into the third stanza. The Mount knotted the game at 2-2 in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter after Christian Kellett took a pass from teammate Jonny Lefferts and beat Manhattan goalie John Geagan for his 16th tally of the year. The score would remain 2-2 for nearly five minutes of action before Synowiez put the Jaspers ahead for good with an unassisted man-up goal with 7:34 left in regulation time.
Perotto scored two more goals to help give his squad a 5-2 lead, with the eventual game-winner coming at 5:47 in the fourth quarter. Freshman Mike Adkins took a pass from Kellett with 25 ticks left on the clock to close out the day’s scoring. For the contest, Mount St. Mary’s outshot Manhattan 34-28. Geagan made 10 saves for Manhattan, with five of those coming in the game’s first 15 minutes. DiBartolo took the loss in net for the Mountaineers after he made five stops between the pipes.
Brendan Harrison had a game-high five ground balls in the loss for Mount St. Mary’s, while Angelo Marrano, Mike Pisciotta and Steve Sternberg were credited with three ground balls apiece for the Jaspers. Perrotto finished the contest with a game-high six shots on goal.
Game Notes: Manhattan’s victory on Friday snapped the team’s three-game losing streak in the MAAC Men’s Lacrosse League Championship Tournament, which dated back to the 2004 championship game that was also played in Buffalo... Mount St. Mary’s was making its seventh appearance in the conference’s postseason tournament and first since 2006... Mount St. Mary’s leads the all-time series between the two schools by an 11-7 count... This marked the fourth time these two squads have met in the postseason, and each school has won two games... The Jaspers have now won three straight and five of their last six games, dating back to April 11... Manhattan is now 7-3 in road/neutral site games this year.