Riverdale, NY - Manhattan (4-9; 0-5 MAAC) concludes the 2018 campaign against Siena (2-9; 0-5 MAAC) at Gaelic Park on Friday, April 27 with opening faceoff tabbed for 5:45 pm.
MANHATTAN LAUNCHES GAELIC PARK ATHLETIC CENTER PROJECT
In order to make an investment in the future of varsity sports at Manhattan College, the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is launching a campaign to raise funds to upgrade athletic facilities that support teams that compete at Gaelic Park. The Gaelic Park Athletic Center project, known as GPAC, will enhance the student-athlete experience for five of Manhattan's outdoor sports, including men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, and softball. The GPAC project will include the installation of sport-specific locker rooms for varsity teams that currently do not have a space of their own. The athletic department will also create a state-of-the-art, on-site athletic training room - in addition to the athletic training facility located at Draddy Gymnasium - and a lounge/film room where student-athletes can study, conduct meetings, and strengthen overall team chemistry. The new space will be located just steps from Gaelic Park at the South Campus along Tibbett Avenue, across from Leo Hall and the new Engineering and Science Center.
MAN OVERBOARD
Manhattan ranks third nationally in man-down defense, killing off 80.0 percent (28-of-35) of penalties. The Jaspers held firm against Detroit Mercy on both of its man-up opportunities and has now yielded just one man-up score in 17 attempts over the last five games.
DURING MAAC PLAY
Manhattan has surrendered just two goals in 12 man-up opportunities during league play - highlighted by denying MAAC-leading Quinnipiac on all six of its opportunities.
WITH A WIN ...
The Jaspers would defeat Siena for the first time since besting the Saints by an 8-7 count on April 22, 2006 while snapping a 12-game losing streak to the school in the process.
THE SERIES
Siena owns a 13-8 advantage in the all-time series.
DYK??
Head Coach Drew Kelleher served as an assistant coach under John Svec at Siena in 2012, helping the Saints post an 11-5 record en route to the MAAC Regular Season Championship.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
Manhattan has posted improvements in numerous categories from a year ago:
Goals allowed: 11.23 (-1.98)
Defensive Shot Percentage: .285 (-.020)
Man-Down Defense: .200 (-.167)
Clear Percentage: .870 (+.024)
Opponents Clear Percentage: .887 (-.013)
SOG Percentage: .600 (+.025)
Turnovers/Game: 13.69 (-3.02)
LAST TIME OUT
The Jaspers dropped a 19-11 decision at Canisius as junior Luke Hanson scored two goals with three assists while freshman Justin Malpica found the back of the net twice.
COOL HAND LUKE
Hanson has a team-leading seven goals and six assists over the last four games to go along with eight ground balls. On the year, he ranks among the MAAC leaders with 1.31 assists (5th) and 2.46 points (14th) per game.
20/20
Junior Parker Giarratana recofded two assists and one goal at Canisius and now has 20 goals and 20 assists this season. His 20 assists are tied for the 10th most in the all-time Jasper single-season annals and are the most by a Manhattan player since Eugene Tanner '05 notched 21 in 2005.
PARKER LEADING THE WAY
Giarratana leads Manhattan and ranks among the MAAC leaders with 1.54 goals (14th), 1.54 assists (4th) and 3.08 points (8th) per game.
THE RECORD BOOKS
Giarratana matched his career-high with five goals at Monmouth while hitting the standard for the fourth time in his career. Giarratana is sixth in school history with 80 goals to go along with 42 assists (7th), 122 points (7th) and 23 multi-goal games. With one more score, Giarratana will match James Synowiez '10 (81) for fifth place and with three more points will equal Wayne Sitar '01 (125) for sixth.
THANK YOU SENIORS
Prior to the match against Detroit Mercy, seniors Ken Braun, Andrew Gresham, Zach Mermelstein, Chris Sammarro and Michael Zingaro were honored for their service to the Manhattan Lacrosse program.
NON-CONFERENCE RECAP
The Jaspers concluded non-conference play with a rousing 14-6 win at NJIT thanks to four goals and three assists from Hanson while classmates Brandon Grinnell and CJ Scharf each added hat tricks.
THE WIN OVER NJIT ...
Secured Manhattan's fourth non-conference victory, matching the most by the Jaspers since earning four victories in 2009.
HANSON LIGHTING IT UP
Hanson's aforementioned seven points all came after halftime and are the most by a Manhattan player this year. His first goal tied the score up at 4-4 to start the third quarter before assisting on the go-ahead score. Additionally, he helped put the game on ice with three of the Jaspers' six fourth-quarter scores after handing out three assists at Marist.
GRINNELL IN MAAC PLAY
Grinnell is the lone Jasper to score in all five MAAC contests and is third on the team with 14 goals.
MALPICA MAKING MOVES
Freshman Justin Malpica recorded his second-straight multi-goal game and the fourth of his rookie campaign with a team-leading two goals at Canisius.
BRESSINGHAM IN THE X
Junior Joseph Bressingham was 13-for-23 (.565) on faceoffs against Canisius with eight ground balls and is second in the MAAC in faceoff percentage (.492) and ground balls (5.0/game). Additionally, during MAAC play Bressingham leads all players with 7.2 ground balls per game.
BETWEEN THE PIPES
Senior Michael Zingaro registered 14 saves in leading Manhattan to a 14-6 win at NJIT while notching an impressive .700 save percentage in earning his fourth career victory over the Highlanders. Zingaro yielded a season-low six goals and has notched at least three saves in all four quarters, including five in the second quarter. He has registered double-figures in saves in nine of his 12 games on the year.
DOUBLE FIGURE ZINGARO
Zingaro registered his 37th career double-digit save performance with 12 stops vs. Canisius.
SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST
Manhattan has outscored the opposition 33-23 in the final stanza this year.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
76.4 percent of the Jaspers' goals (84-of-110) and 63.1 percent of their assists (41-of-65) have been recorded by underclassmen.
ALL-TIME AGAINST SIENA
Giarratana has three goals and two assists against Siena for his career while Zingaro is averaging 8.3 saves per game.
SCOUTING THE SAINTS
Senior Chris Robertson paces Siena with 23 goals, 14 assists and 37 points while Mike Reilly is second with 14 goals and eight assists.
BRESSINGHAM NAMED MAAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Bressingham was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Week and scooping up a career-high 11 ground balls while going 17-for-24 on faceoffs against the Hawks.
FIRST TIME, LONG TIME
Hanson became the first Jasper to win MAAC Offensive Player of the Week honors since Ryan Payton did so on March 25, 2014. The Long Island native paced Manhattan with three goals, two assists, and a ground ball against No. 8 Virginia and UMass Lowell.
ZINGARO BEING ZINGARO
For the second time this year and the third in his career, Zingaro was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Week. He recorded 15.0 saves, 6.0 ground balls per game, and posted a .612 save percentage over games against No. 8 Virginia and UMass Lowell. The senior yielded just eight goals to the Cavaliers as they failed to score in double-figures for the first time this year. He finished the game with 18 saves and five ground balls before notching 12 saves and added seven ground balls in a narrow two-goal loss to the River Hawks.
ZINGARO, MACKINNEY EARN MAAC WEEKLY ACCOLADES
Zingaro earned his first MAAC Defensive Player of the Week accolade after leading Manhattan to a pair of wins over Bellarmine and Lafayette while freshman Sean MacKinney earned Rookie of the Week honors.
* Zingaro dominated behind the pipes to the a tune of a .609 save percentage while averaging 14.0 saves per game. He notched 16 stops in the win over Bellarmine and 12 in the victory over Lafayette. Over the two games, he also did not yield a fourth-quarter score.
* MacKinney tallied seven goals in leading the Jaspers to wins at Lafayette and against Bellarmine. The attack found the back of the net four times in the victory over the Knights, and totaled three ground balls after beginning the week with three scores against the Leopards.
HANSON FEATURED IN THE QUAD
Hanson was interviewed about balancing academics and athletics and why he chose Manhattan College. Take a look by clicking HERE.
COLLARD IN THE JOURNAL
Freshman Austin Collard was featured in the New England Lacrosse Journal and named the publication's Freshman of the Week after scoring a goal at Wagner ... Read the full article by clicking HERE.