Staten Island, NY (April 20, 2005)- Behind three goals and two assists from senior
Justin Otto, the Jaspers won their fifth straight game to open the MAAC campaign, defeating Wagner 10-8 this afternoon.
Konstantine Rountos and
Kevin Blake each scored their first collegiate goals to give Manhattan its margin of victory.
The Jaspers (6-4, 5-0 MAAC) got on the board first when
Greg Lewis took a
Chris Oppito feed and found the back of the net at the 12:22 mark. With 2:27 left in the quarter, Blake scored on a feed from
Eugene Tanner to put Manhattan ahead 2-0 after one quarter.
After Wagner (1-10, 0-6 MAAC) tied the game at two with 9:10 remaining in the half, the Jaspers scored twice in nine seconds to retain the two-goal advantage. First, it was
Christian Schaefers with an unassisted goal at the 8:39 mark, followed by Rountos' tally off the face-off at the 8:30 mark.
However, Wagner again knotted the score, this time scoring a man-up goal with 7:25 remaining in the half, followed by an even-strength goal with 5:48 left, as the two teams went into intermission deadlocked at four.
The Jasper defense held strong in the third quarter and did not allow a goal, as Otto scored two goals within a minute of each other to give Manhattan a two-goal edge. At the 3:49 mark, Otto scored on a feed from Tanner, and followed that up with another goal with 2:55 remaining, this time taking a pass from
Sean Crowley to give the Jaspers a 6-4 advantage heading into the final 15 minutes.
Wagner cut the lead to one (6-5) on Tom Marchetti's second goal of the day at the 13:58 mark, but Manhattan responded with four unanswered goals to pull away.
Otto found sophomore
Jeremy Marrano for a goal at the 12:02 mark, and then the two connected again, as Marrano took a feed from Otto to give Manhattan an 8-5 lead with 10:32 remaining in the game. Otto then scored on a feed from
Brian Murray on a man-up opportunity with 9:51 left, proving to be the game-winner. Tanner rounded out the Jasper scoring for the day, with an unassisted tally with 9:11 remaining in regulation.
After neither team scored for seven minutes, Wagner scored three times in the final 2:12, first on a man-up goal, followed by two even-strength goals to cut the final margin to 10-8.
Sophomore
Justin Henry made 12 stops in goal for Manhattan, including five saves in the pivotal fourth quarter, to capture his fifth win of the season.
Manhattan will look to continue its winning ways on Saturday, April 23, when the Jaspers will travel to Philadelphia to take on St. Joseph's in another MAAC matchup. Game time is slated for 2:00 p.m.
