Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - Freshman goalkeeper Christina Fiorinelli made 19 saves, including 13 in the second half, as the Manhattan women's lacrosse team held off Bucknell for a 13-12 victory at Gaelic Park on Saturday afternoon. The win was the first in the career of first year head coach Diane Haddeland.
The match began as a hotly contested affair as senior attacker Chrissy Gutenberger scored first to put the Jaspers (1-1) up 1-0 just over a minute in to the game. Bucknell's Katelyn Miller tied the affair two minutes later before teammate Arriana Sajjad gave the Bison their first and only lead of the game, a mere 51 seconds later.
Manhattan would then score the next six goals beginning with Gutenberger's second goal of the game, and capped off by fellow senior BrieAnna Spatarella, as they jumped out to a 7-2 lead with 7:19 remaining in the first half. Spatarella would finish the game with three goals, including two in that 6-0 run.
The Bison (0-4) would make it interesting going in to the locker room as they scored the final four goals of the half to trail 7-6 at the break. Miller notched two consecutive fore Bucknell followed by a free-position-goal by Sajjad. Madison Hurwitz would then score with 0:22 seconds left in the half.
The Jaspers came out of the break and scored two quick goals, both from Gutenberger, within the first 0:45 seconds of the second half to take a 9-6 lead. Bucknell would score on a man-up opportunity thanks to Molly Ford, before Adrienne Wendling got her squad a bit closer at 9-8 with 23:50 remaining.
Manhattan quickly put in end to the momentum as Gutenberger tickled the twine for the fifth time immediately off the draw control. She would then add another tally before Spatarella earned her third to put the Jaspers up 12-8 with 20:34 remaining. Gutenberger finished with seven points on the day, with six goals, as she led all players in offensive categories.
All throughout, Fiorinelli (1-1) was stalwart in net stopping numerous shots from right in front as she earned her first win of her young career. Her 19 saves missed the programs single-game record by just one. Helping her out was senior defender Breana Leonard who came up with multiple clutch clears to alleviate some of the pressure in the Jaspers defensive end.
Bucknell fought to make it interesting scoring four of the next five goals to make it 13-12 in favor of Manhattan with 2:52 remaining. The Bison then won the following draw control and held for a shot that was saved off the stick of Fiorinelli with 1:06 left to play. As Manhattan was able to clear into their offensive end, Spatarella turned the ball over with 0:22 ticks on the clock. Wendling would fire a desperation shot for Bucknell but Fiorinelli was up to the task, making the save as the buzzer sounded.
Manhattan was 10-14 in clear attempts while Bucknell was 6-7 in their chances. The Bison were also able to outshoot the Jaspers (34 to 23) and forced more turnovers (17-10) in the game while winning 14 of the 26 draw controls.
For the Bison, Katelyn Miller finished with four goals, while Sajjad and Hurwitz each scored two to have multi-point efforts. Caroline O'Neill began the game in goal making one save, before being subbed out for Katherine Fraile who was able to stop six different shots.
The Jaspers will be back in action on Wednesday, February 29, when they travel to Staten Island to take on Wagner at 3:00 p.m.
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