Easton, PA – Eight different Jaspers found the back of the net, but Manhattan could not secure the win over Lafayette in the second half and fell 12-9 on Wednesday evening at Fisher Stadium.
Lafayette won its first game of the season to move to 1-3, while the Jaspers move to the same record.
Manhattan started the game sharply. Freshman Carmella Liscio (Blauvelt, NY / Tappan Zee), making her first career start, won the opening draw. Twenty-six seconds in, sophomore Emily Sandford (Floral Park, NY / Sacred Heart) used a burst of speed to cut in and put the Jaspers in front 1-0.
The Leopards answered on their first offensive possession with a tally from Kristin Schaen. The home team continued to push offensively, but Jasper netminder Nikki Prestiano (Yorktown Heights, NY / Yorktown) made two saves to keep the game at one.
With almost eight minutes gone by in the first half, Prestiano made her fourth save of the game. On the clear, junior Emma Kaishian took it herself and dashed toward the net to tally her first career goal.
Halfway through the opening frame, Manhattan went tic-tac-toe into the eight-meter fan. Junior Molly Fitzpatrick (Yorktown, NY / Lakeland) received a pass and immediately fed senior Sarah Lang (Golden's Bridge, NY / Vermont) to the left of the net to make it 3-1 Jaspers.
After Lafayette pulled within one, both teams traded goals the rest of the half. With 2:05 remaining in the frame, Lafayette's Hannah Davey went one-on-one with Prestiano, who made a spectacular, point-blank save. The junior collected nine saves in the first half.
Manhattan cleared, where Fitzpatrick patiently waited and found a wide-open Grace Owens (Tampa, FL / H.B. Plant) in front. Owens potted her first collegiate goal. A late Leopard goal made the score 5-4 Manhattan at the break.
The second half turned into a different story. Lafayette opened with two quick scores for its first lead of the game. The Leopards almost made it three goals in a row, but Davey's snipe hit the post. Manhattan went three-on-two the other way, where junior Caitlin Murphy (Carmel, NY / Carmel) tied the match at six.
With less than 20 minutes to play, however, Lafayette regained the lead off Jane Kirby's fourth goal of the game. The Leopards added two more tallies to extend their lead by three.
The Jaspers pulled within two on multiple occasions, the latest begin 10-8 when, on a free-position attempt, junior Talia Price (Kinnelon, NJ / Kinnelon) opted to pass to Murphy. Price made a cut off the ball, and Murphy found her for the score with 7:48 left in regulation. Manhattan would not come any closer the rest of the way.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- The eight different goal scorers are the most for the Jaspers since an 18-2 victory over Delaware State on March 15, 2014.
- With three points, Fitpatrick now has 12 career points against Lafayette.
- Prestiano made a season-high 12 saves, her first double-digit output of the year.
- Liscio and Owens both cracked the starting lineup for the first time this year. The former also won a team-high four draw controls.
- Lang, Fitzpatrick and Kara Hodapp (Oak Ridge, NJ / Jefferson Township) extended their scoring streaks to four games and are the only Jaspers to score in every game so far.
- Manhattan outpaced Lafayette in saves (12-6) and successful clears (21-19).
- The Leopards now lead the all-time series 4-2.
- The Jaspers held Lafayette to 3-11 on free-position attempts.
UP NEXT
The Jaspers travel to Burlington, VT to battle the University of Vermont on Saturday, March 3 at 1:00 pm.