Box Score Brookville, NY — Manhattan eked out a 1-0 victory at LIU Soccer Park during Thursday's matinee match-up. The winner came off the foot of sophomore Arancha Antunes who found the back of the net in the 20th minute.
In the early stages of the season, the Jaspers haven't been able to muster many counter attacks but did flip a switch on Thursday at LIU. Senior Sami Derico raced up the right side of the field, spotted out Antunes, and delivered a perfect pass to Antunes for her third career goal.
The Jaspers felt the wrath of the Sharks' pressure in the second half, but time and time again made the necessary plays to keep the shutout intact. The Jaspers' first win of the season coincides with sophomore goalie
Molly Brunk's second career shutout after keeping Mount St. Mary's scoreless in a 1-o win last season. At LIU, Brunk was only burdened into making 2 saves.
Amaya Hill came close to making it 2-0 in the final seconds but her shot missed wide right. Antunes, who was the hero, made her first start of the season in place of
Corrine Jackson who is dealing with a hamstring injury.
Manhattan is 3-0-1 versus LIU since 1997.
Coach's Angle
"The NEC is very much like the MAAC conference so to go on the road and get a hard fought win is very important," said Manhattan head coach
Brendan Lawler.
"The quality of the goal scored shows we can do that over and over again. The more we keep reading those situations the more we will score," Lawler said of Manhattan's game-changing build-up in the 20th minute.
"This part of the season it's about us. We're trying to implement what we're doing in practice and perfect what we're doing."
"She's
our rock back there," Lawler said of Brunk.
Modena's World
Jasper legend Erica Modena '18 works as an athletic trainer at LIU. Modena is the only player in Manhattan women's soccer history to win MAAC Offensive Player of the Year, and also has four All-MAAC selections to her name. She is second in program history with 34 goals and 82 points during her Jasper career, helping lead Manhattan to two MAAC Championship Games in 2015 and 2017.
Next Time Out
Manhattan returns to Riverdale for their first home game of 2024 when the Wagner Seahawks (0-1-1) pay the Jaspers a visit. The action will be streamed live on GoJaspers.com.
