Riverdale, NY (April 17, 2004) - Led by 6 goals from Justin Otto, the Manhattan College men's lacrosse team downed MAAC member St. Joseph's 17-8 at Gaelic Park in Riverdale, NY. With the victory the Jaspers improve to 6-4 overall and 4-1 in the MAAC. Manhattan netted seven goals in the final quarter, propelling them to their fourth conference victory of the season.
Manhattan took the early 1-0 lead by a Brian Murray unassisted goal at the 13:01 mark in the first quarter. The Hawks responded with a Keegan Wilkinson goal evening the score at 1-1 with 7:41 remaining in the quarter. Two Justin Otto goals gave Manhattan the lead at 3-1. St. Joseph's finished the scoring for the quarter, with a goal by Andrew Four, making the score 3-2.
Matt Reynolds tied the game up with a goal to start the second quarter, 3-3 at the 13:25 mark. Manhattan bounced back with three straight Jasper goals, by Nick Cacciatore, Greg Lewis, and Justin Otto, giving Manhattan the 6-3 lead going into the half.
After a Mike O'Neill goal for St. Joseph's cutting the lead to two, 6-4, Manhattan tallied two goals, by Jeremy Marrano and Justin Otto, giving the Jaspers the 8-4 edge. Mike Pagilaro netted two goals for the Hawks in the third quarter, but goals by Greg Lewis and Jeremy Marrano gave the Jaspers the 10-6 lead at the end of the third.
Brian Mullan netted a goal for the Hawks cutting the lead to three, 10-7, but the Jaspers responded with three straight goals, which included goals by Chris Oppito, Greg Lewis and Eugene Tanner. Mike Pagliaro would net one more goal for St. Joseph's before Manhattan netted four straight, two by Justin Otto and one each by Nick Cacciatore and Keith Powers.
The Jaspers had four people recording four points or more, starting with six goals from Justin Otto. Freshman Brian Murray netted 1 goal and four assists, totaling five points. Sophomore Greg Lewis, freshman Jeremy Marrano, and Junior tri-captain Eugene Tanner each recorded four points. Goaltender Robert Busweiler made 14 saves in the victory.
The Jaspers are back in action on Senior Day, Saturday, April 24 against MAAC rival Marist at 1 pm at Gaelic Park in Riverdale, NY.