FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Manhattan College men's lacrosse team scored the first six goals of the game and never looked back on Saturday, as the Jaspers (1-2) notched their first victory of the season, a 12-9 triumph over Sacred Heart (1-3) at Campus Field. Justin Jensen (Bay Shore, N.Y.), James Synowiez (Owego, N.Y.) and Joe Variano (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) paced the Manhattan offense with three goals apiece.
Jensen's tally 9:38 into the game was the only goal of the first quarter, but the Jaspers exploded for five goals in a four-minute span in the second quarter to open up a 6-0 lead. Synowiez got the rally started with a goal at the 10:50 mark, then Variano scored just 14 seconds later. After Synowiez added two more goals, Sal Perrotto (Garnerville, N.Y.) found the back of the net for the first time this season with 6:51 left in the half. Sacred Heart got on the board with Timmy Katz's goal at the 4:49 mark. Mike Llewellyn (Brookhaven, N.Y.) reestablished Manhattan's six-goal advantage 40 seconds later before three Sacred Heart tallies in a minute made it 7-4. Jensen notched his second goal of the game with 1:01 left to give the Jaspers an 8-4 halftime lead.
Manhattan scored the first two goals of the second half to bring its lead back to six, 10-4, before Sacred Heart's Tim Russo made it 10-5 with three seconds left in the third quarter. The Pioneers outscored the Jaspers 4-2 in the fourth quarter, but Tyler Jarvis (O'Fallon, Mo.) notched his first career goal and Variano completed his hat trick to wrap up a 12-9 Manhattan victory.
Jensen also had two assists to complete a five-point day, while Synowiez and Variano each had an assist, as well. Jarvis also tallied three points (one goal, two assists). Perrotto (one goal, one assist), Mike Llewellyn (one goal, one assist) and Tyler Sabens (Falmouth, Mass.) (two assists) also had multi-point afternoons. Max Cabasso (Allenhurst, N.J.) had a team-high five ground balls and Chase Calkin (Englewood, Colo.) added four ground balls, as the Jaspers held a 34-27 advantage on the ground. Jon Fiorillo (Painted Post, N.Y.) (1-1) made 17 saves to pick up his first win of the year.
For the Pioneers, Katz and Matt Ferrino both tallied a pair of goals. Evan Morgan also had two points with a goal and an assist. Stephen Contos collected a game-high six ground balls for Sacred Heart. Tom Trgo (1-2) took the loss in goal after allowing six goals and making eight saves in the first 24:05. Zach Frank finished up in goal, surrendering six goals and stopping four shots.
The Jaspers are back in action on Tuesday afternoon when they play eighth-ranked Princeton (2-0) in their home opener. It will be Manhattan's second "home" game of the season, but the first at Gaelic Park. Manhattan's game against Robert Morris on Feb. 27 was moved to Brooklyn's Aviator Field because of the field conditions at Gaelic Park last weekend. A live webcast of the contest, which gets underway at 3 p.m., will be available at www.gojaspers.com.