No. 3 Manhattan (7-8, 5-3 MAAC) vs No. 2 Mount St. Mary's (10-4, 7-1 MAAC)
2010 MAAC Lacrosse Championships, Semifinals
Friday, May 7, 2010-4 p.m.
Poughkeepsie, N.Y.-Tenney Stadium at Leonidoff Field (5,000)
TV: None
Radio/Internet: maacsports.com
TODAY'S GAME
Manhattan (7-8, 5-3 MAAC) enters its third consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament as the No. 3 seed. The Jaspers take on second-seeded Mount St. Mary's (10-4, 7-1 MAAC) in this afternoon first semifinal. This marks the second straight season in which Manhattan and Mount St. Mary's square off in the MAAC semifinals, with the Jaspers winning last season's matchup 5-3. The winner of today's game will face either top-seeded Siena (11-4, 8-0 MAAC) or No.4 Marist (8-6, 5-3 MAAC) at 12 p.m. on Sunday in the MAAC Championship Game.
ABOUT MANHATTAN
The Jaspers (7-8) finished tied for third in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) with a 5-3 MAAC record, and qualified for the MAAC Tournament for the third consecutive season. Manhattan, which faced each of the other three tournament participants on the road, is coming off a 12-5 loss to regular season champion Siena on Saturday afternoon. Just 10 days ago, Manhattan knocked off Marist 10-6 at Tenney Stadium. Senior attackman James Synowiez paces the Manhattan offense with 38 goals and 50 points. Junior attackman Justin Jensen has tallied 19 goals and 32 points this season, while senior attackman Joe Variano has found the back of the net 18 times. Junior midfielder Sal Perrotto has handed out a team-leading 15 assists in 2010. Freshman Chace Calkin, Manhattan's primary faceoff man, leads the Jaspers with 52 ground balls. Junior goalkeeper Jon Fiorillo is 7-5 with an 8.60 goals against average and a save percentage of .576.
ABOUT MOUNT ST. MARY'S
Mount St. Mary's (10-4, 7-1 MAAC) is seeded second in the MAAC Tournament for the second consecutive season. The Mountaineers have won two straight since losing to Siena, including a 13-9 victory over Marist at Tenney Stadium on Saturday night. Sophomore attackman Cody Lehrer paces the Mountaineers with 46 goals and 54 points. He leads the MAAC and ranks third in the nation with 3.29 goals per game. Lehrer has also notched 10 man-up tallies. Freshman midfielder Andrew Scalley is second on the squad in both goals (25) and points (41), while sophomore attackman Brett Schmidt has handed out a team-high 17 assists. Junior midfielder Ben Trapp wins 56.2 percent of his faceoffs, and leads the Mountaineers in ground balls (85). He ranks second in the nation in ground balls per game (6.07). Junior goalkeeper T.C. DiBartolo has a 10-4 record, as well as a 9.29 goals against average and a save percentage of .583, which ranks sixth nationally.
SERIES HISTORY
The first game in the history of the Manhattan men's lacrosse program was against Mount St. Mary's on March 23, 1996. The Mountaineers won that meeting 15-1, and hold a 12-5 edge in the all-time series. Today's game marks the fifth time that Manhattan and Mount St. Mary's are meeting in the MAAC Tournament. The Jaspers hold a 3-1 edge in postseason games, including a 5-3 victory in last season's MAAC semifinals. This is the final time that the Jaspers and Mountaineers will meet as conference rivals. Mount St. Mary's will leave the MAAC to join the newly-formed Northeast Conference next season.
IN THE REGULAR SEASON
Manhattan came back from a 4-0 deficit by scoring four of the game's final five goals, but the Mountaineers held on for a 5-4 victory at Waldron Family Stadium on April 17. Mount St. Mary's led 4-0 until the Jaspers finally got on the board on Salvatore Spatarella's goal with 1:06 left in the first half. James Synowiez added a goal to make it 4-2 just before halftime before Mount St. Mary's extended its advantage to 5-2. Kelly Mahon scored 13 seconds later, then Spatarella's second tally of the game made it a one-goal contest after three quarters. Mount St. Mary's was content to protect its lead, not recording an official shot on goal in the fourth quarter. Manhattan had a chance to tie late, but T.C. DiBartolo saved Justin Jensen's point-blank shot to preserve the Mountaineers' 5-4 victory.
THREE'S A CROWD
Manhattan, Marist and Canisius all finished tied for third place with identical 5-3 MAAC records. Since each team went 1-1 against the other two, and all three lost to both Siena and Mount St. Mary's, a random draw was held to determine which school would be left out of the MAAC Tournament. Canisius was drawn, eliminating the Griffs. Manhattan and Marist were then seeded based on the result of their regular season meeting. The Jaspers were awarded the No. 3 seed because of their 10-6 victory over the Red Foxes on April 28.
