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Riverdale, NY - Top-seeded Manhattan (5-4) and No. 2 Monmouth (7-2) will vie for the 2021 MAAC Men's Lacrosse Championship on Saturday, May 8 at Gaelic Park, with opening faceoff slated for 1:00 pm.
With A Win ... the Jaspers will advance to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history, and first since 2002.
Home Cooking
* The Green & White is a perfect 4-0 at Gaelic Park this season, after defeating Canisius in the MAAC Semifinals.
Canisius Recap
* Manhattan scored the first three goals and never looked back en route to posting a dominating 10-5 win over the Golden Griffins.
* Sophomore
Kyle Gucwa finished with three goals and an assists, while junior
Liam Walshe had two goals and an assist and graduate student
Trevor Pelletier two scores to pace the offense.
* Senior
Brendan Krebs made 12 saves between the pipes, while scooping up a team-best five ground balls.
* Junior
Sean Baudille was 11-for-18 from the Faceoff X, including 5-of-7 after halftime.
* Senior
Luke Pacher was tremendous on defense, scooping up three ground balls while forcing two turnovers and helping hold Jacob Buck, the Golden Griffins' leading scorer, to just one assist.
Close Calls
* Manhattan had four-straight games decided by one goal or less (2-2), with two others decided by three goals (1-1).
* Additionally, three of the Jaspers eight games were decided in double-overtime (2-1).
Championship Notes:
- Manhattan will participating in the Men's Lacrosse Championship for the seventh time in program history, and the first time in 11 years to the date of the publication of this article (May 7, 2010).
- The Jaspers are the No. 1 seed for the second time in program history, and won their only MAAC Championship as the No. 1 seed in 2002.
- Manhattan holds an all-time record of 6-6 in eight appearances the MAAC Championship.
- The Jaspers are 5-3, all-time, in MAAC semifinal action and will be playing in the MAAC Championship for the fifth time in program history.
- Manhattan win over Canisius marked first-ever MAAC Men's Lacrosse Championship game to be played at Gaelic Park.
2021 Manhattan Record/Results Against Monmouth ...
1-1 (All-time record: Monmouth leads 6-2)
Manhattan 9 Monmouth 8 (2ot) - March 26, 2021
Monmouth 8 Manhattan 5 - March 6, 2021 (Non-Conference)
Manhattan-Monmouth Game Two Notes
* Manhattan snapped a six-game losing streak to Monmouth with a thrilling 9-8 double-overtime victory at Gaelic Park way back on March 26.
* Senior
Jake Nicolosi scored the game-winning goal, while Walshe scored a career-high four goals to lead both teams.
* Gucwa and senior
Sean MacKinney also added two goals, while graduate student
Luke Hanson handed out four assists.
* Krebs made 11 saves between the pipes.
* Seven different Hawks scored for Monmouth.
* Matt Soutar went 17-for-21 at the Faceoff X.
* Noah Lode made 10 saves.
* Manhattan forced 23 turnovers, while committing just 13 miscues.
* The Jaspers killed off all five Monmouth extra-man opportunities.
Manhattan-Monmouth Game One Notes
* Monmouth won the teams' designated non-conference opener on March 6 in West Long Branch, NJ by a score of 8-5.
* Walshe scored two goals, while Gucwa, MacKinney and sophomore
Blake Van Epps all found the back of the net.
* Krebs made 15 saves with a .652 save percentage.
* Hanson, graduate student
Rob Johnson and junior
Tadhg O'Riordan each had a team-best three ground balls.
* Manhattan committed 20 turnovers, compared to 18 for Monmouth.
All-Time Jasper Record In MAAC Championship ...
All-Time Record: 8-6 (8 trips)
No. 2 Monmouth - NA
No. 3 Detroit Mercy - NA
No. 4 Canisius - 1-1
No. 5 Marist - 1-0
No. 6 St. Bonaventure - NA
No. 7 Siena - 0-1
Quinnipiac - NA
Former MAAC Men's Lacrosse Members
Mount St. Mary's - 3-2
Saint Joseph's - 1-1
Providence - 0-1
Manhattan MAAC Honorees
* MAAC Coach of the Year Drew Kelleher
* MAAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year/ All-MAAC First Team GK senior Brendan Krebs
- 5-4 | 8.86 GAA | .591 Save Percentage
- MAAC SF vs. Canisius: 12 saves; .706 save percentage, 5.00 GAA
- 2021 vs. Monmouth: 1-1; 13.0 saves per game; .619 save percentage; 8.00 GAA
* All-MAAC First Team Attack senior Sean MacKinney
- 15 goals, 8 assists, team-best 23 points
- MAAC SF vs. Canisius: 1 goal, 2 GB
- 2021 vs. Monmouth: 3 goals
* All-MAAC First Team Defense senior Luke Pacher
- 18 ground balls, 10 caused turnovers
- MAAC SF vs. Canisius: 3 ground balls, 2 forced turnovers
- 2021 vs. Monmouth: 1 ground ball; 1 forced turnover
* All-MAAC Second Team Attack senior Jake Nicolosi
- 13 goals, 3 game-winning scores; 1 assist
- MAAC SF vs. Canisius: 1 goal, 1 assist
- 2021 vs. Monmouth: 1 goal
* All-MAAC Second Team Attack sophomore Kyle Gucwa
- 16 goals, 6 assists, 22 points
- MAAC SF vs. Canisius: 3 goals, 1 assist
- 2021 vs. Monmouth: 3 goals
* MAAC All-Rookie Team honoree freshman Spencer Moore
- 2 ground balls
All-Time Against Monmouth:
- Walshe: 7 goals
- Hanson: 1 goal / 4 assists
- Gucwa: 3 goals
- MacKinney: 3 goals
- Grinnell: 2 goals / 1 assist
- Pelletier: 3 assists
- Nicolosi: 1 goal
- Scharf: 1 assist
- Van Epps: 1 goal / 1 assist
- Krebs: 1-2; .578 SV Percentage, 12.3 saves per game, 9.00 GAA
Getting Defensive
* Manhattan ranks seventh nationally with a 9.22 GAA, while its .722 mark on man-down defense is 12th.
Lending A Helping Hand
* Graduate student
Luke Hanson is second in the MAAC with 1.88 assists per game, and 12th with 2.50 points per game.
Success Starts In Net
* Krebs is fourth nationally in save percentage (.591), seventh in GAA (8.86) and ninth in saves per game (13.3).
Also In The Rankings
* Walshe is ninth in the MAAC in goals (1.89 gpg) and 10th in points (2.56 ppg).
* Gucwa is 11th in the MAAC in goals (1.78 gpg) and 13th in points (2.44 ppg).
* MacKinnney is 13th in the MAAC in goals (1.67 gpg), while Walshe is 13th in points (2.44 ppg).
Record Book Watch
* Hanson is third in program history with 79 assists and seventh with 126 points.
* He is also the first player in program history to serve as captain for four seasons.
* Krebs has 408 for his career, and 32 shy of fifth place in the all-time Manhattan annals to go along with a .572 save percentage and a 9.62 GAA.
Manhattan Named MAAC Regular Season Tri-Champion; Earns No. 1 seed
* Manhattan finished in a three-way tie for first place in the MAAC, en route to earning a share of just the second MAAC Regular Season Title in school history.
* The Jaspers also are the No. 1 seed for the just the second time in program history, winning the 2002 Championship as the No. 1 seed.
MAAC Weekly Honors
* Gucwa (Detroit Mercy), MacKinney (Siena) and junior
Liam Walshe (Monmouth), who led the Jaspers with 15 goals, all earned MAAC Offensive Player of the Week honors this year.
* Krebs also was twice named MAAC Defensive Player of the Week, following outstanding performances in wins over Detroit Mercy and Siena.
Coach Kelleher Quick Hits
* Named just the second coach in program history on June 25, 2015.
* Inherited a program that won just one game in 2015 and was ranked in the bottom-five of the RPI, and led them to a win at defending MAAC Champion Marist in 2016.
* Has 24 career victories, including seven during MAAC play.
* His man-down defense led the NCAA Division I ranks in both 2018 and 2019.
* Graduated from Vermont in 2009, and ranked 11th nationally as a senior with 2.50 goals per game.
* His grandfather Daniel played basketball for the Jaspers from 1930-1932.
* His father Dan '77 and mother Jeanne '78 are both Manhattan College graduates.
