NEWBURGH, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College men's lacrosse team (3-3) was narrowly edged by Manhattanville College (2-2) in non-conference action by a score of 8-7 Wednesday evening at Kaplan Field.
Manhattanville's Ed Motherway scored the game winner just 59 seconds into the fourth quarter, breaking the 7-7 tie. Freshman goalkeeper
Christopher Doerr (Pleasantville, N.Y.) did what he could to keep the Knights in the game, making four saves without another goal for the rest of the period. In the final seconds, freshman midfielder
Danny Kugler (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) had the ball behind the net, looking for someone to hand it off to. With just two seconds left, he started driving to the side of the net, where he then dove and fired the ball into the goal over the keeper's shoulder for what appeared to be the tying score. Unfortunately, Kugler was called for a crease violation, and the goal was waved off with no time left on the clock.
The game was very well contested for the full 60 minutes. The Knights took the early lead on a pair of man-up goals in the first quarter by freshman attackman
Tristan Earle (Milford, Pa.) and sophomore attackman
Joseph Rizzotti (East Meadow, N.Y.). Andrew Murray got one back for the Valiants with 2:08 left in the quarter, but junior midfielder
Sebastian Cina Jr. (Colts Neck, N.J.) tallied his first of the year just 25 seconds later to put the Knights up, 3-1. Murray scored again with 51 seconds left to cut the deficit to one before the end of the period.
Motherway scored the only goal of the second quarter to tie the game at 3-3, which it remained through the end of the half. Murray gave the Valiants the lead on his third of the game at the 12:23 mark in the third quarter. The Knights then went on a four-goal run, capped off by a goal by senior attackman
Jake Robison (Franklin Square, N.Y.) with 3:38 to play in the frame. After the Knights' big run, the Valiants went on one of their own, scoring three times in a row in the final 3:21 of the third quarter to tie the game. Motherway's winner in the fourth capped off four unanswered goals for Manhattanville.
Manhattanville's Zach Hoffman made eight stops to earn the victory on Wednesday. Doerr made 11 saves, but fell to 3-3 on the year with the loss.
Murray finished up with four goals in the winning effort for Manhattanville. Motherway tallied a hat trick with three of his own. Mike Arena led the Valiants with six ground balls and three caused turnovers.
Robison turned in a four-point outing with three assists and a goal on Wednesday. He now has 15 points in his last three games. Rizzotti scored twice on three shots, while Earle, Cina Jr., freshman attackman
Kenneth Gallagher (Northport, N.Y.) and senior midfielder
David Hobbs (Baldwin, N.Y.) each netted one apiece. Kugler and freshman midfielder
Dylan De Meo (Franklin Square, N.Y.) matched for a team-high five ground balls. Junior midfielder
Brendan Nestola (Merrick, N.Y.) won 9-of-15 face-offs.
Manhattanville fired off a game-high 30 shots, while the Knights attempted 22. The Knights took a 36-30 edge in ground balls, and a 10-8 advantage in face-offs. The Knights succeeded on 13-of-15 clear attempts, while Manhattanville completed 14-of-23.
The Knights face a tough test on Saturday, March 21, when they play host to SUNY Plattsburgh at Kaplan Field. The opening face-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
Follow the Knights on Twitter at
@MSMCKnights and the men's lacrosse team at
@MSMCLacrosse
