FAIRFIELD, CT — Manhattan men's lacrosse led #16 Sacred Heart 5-2 after two quarters, before the Pioneers stormed back over the final 30 minutes to hand the Jaspers an 11-7 defeat in the regular season finale at Campus Field. Manhattan has dropped four of its last five games, but will look to start fresh in the 2025 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship as the #5 seed who will play at #4 Marist on Sunday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
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Manhattan jumped out to a 2–0 lead on goals from Aiden Kane at the 12:19 mark of the first and a strike from Kelly DuPree which came less than four minutes later.
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After a late first-quarter goal from James Moran cut the Jaspers' lead to one, Scott O'Connor converted on the man-up opportunity to regain a two-goal advantage for Manhattan with 13:19 left in the second quarter
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Leading 3-2, two quick hitters— one Jack Miller and one from Drew Hiner—staked out a 5-2 lead for the Jaspers at halftime. Hiner's goal came with only nine seconds left in the second quarter.
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Sacred Heart would tie the score at five apiece on three consecutive goals from Jake Ward, John Murray and Dom Basti, before Kane's rip at the 3:34 mark of the third quarter gave him his second of the day and a 6-5 lead for Manhattan.
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Nevertheless, the Jaspers weren't immune to another scoring for Sacred Heart. Four more goals from the Pioneers to kick off the fourth quarter put them ahead 9-6, and the home team never looked back from there.
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Drew Hiner delivered the Jaspers' final goal of the regular season, which didn't factor into the final result. Hiner was assisted by Damien Blando with 3:51 left on the clock.
STATS AND NOTES
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Manhattan concludes the 2025 regular season with a 6-8 record, including 4-4 mark in MAAC play.
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Sunday's game vs. Marist is a rematch of the 2022 semifinals, which Manhattan won 13-12.
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The Jaspers were defeated by the Red Foxes, 14-10, back on April 12 in Poughkeepsie.
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With his two-goal performance, Aiden Kane wraps up his regular season campaign with 10 goals.
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Kane scored in all but three of his 11 appearances in the regular season.
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In Wednesday's loss at Sacred Heart, Drew Hiner recorded his fifth multi-goal performance of the campaign by finishing with a pair of goals
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Hiner recorded a hat trick in the loss at Marist.
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Connor Hapward tallied 12 saves in the loss, and now has 408 saves in his career.
UP NEXT
#5 Manhattan will face #4 Marist with win-or-go-home stakes on Sunday in Poughkeepsie. The action begins at 4 p.m. at Tenney Stadium at Leonidoff Field and will be live on ESPN+.
Follow Manhattan men's lacrosse on X (@ManhattanMLax) and Instagram (@manhattanlax).