Philadelphia, PA (April 23, 2005)- Justin Otto had three goals and an assist, while Eugene Tanner assisted on five of Manhattan's seven scores, lifting the Jaspers to a 7-5 win over St. Joseph's this afternoon. Manhattan is now 6-0 in the MAAC and has clinched a spot in the upcoming MAAC Championships.
The Jaspers (7-4) got on the board first when Otto found Christian Schaefers, who fired a shot past Hawks goalie Dan Morrissey at the 11:05 mark, before St. Joseph's responded with two goals to move ahead 2-1 at the end of the quarter.
After a 30-minute stoppage due to inclement weather, Manhattan regained the lead with two second quarter goals, as Otto and Tanner connected on both of them. With 4:24 remaining in the half, Otto took a feed from Tanner on a man-up opportunity and knotted the score at two. And with 15 seconds left in the half, Otto again took a pass from Tanner, finding the back of the net to give Manhattan the 3-2 advantage heading into intermission.
With the score remaining 3-2 with three minutes to play in the third, the Hawks (2-10, 1-5 MAAC) tied the score at three on Mike O'Neill's first goal of the day. However, only 20 seconds later, Otto and Tanner again connected for the third straight time, as Tanner assisted on Otto's third goal of the day to put Manhattan ahead for good.
After Tanner found Greg Lewis for a goal at the 1:15 mark in the third, John Cooper scored with 44 seconds to play in the quarter to bring the Hawks back within a goal at 5-4 going into the final stanza.
The Jaspers gave themselves a cushion with consecutive goals by Schaefers and Brian Murray to put the Jaspers ahead 7-4, before St. Joseph's scored on a man-up goal with 26 seconds left in the game to bring the Hawks within two, but it was not enough as the Jaspers secured their sixth straight win to begin the MAAC season.
For the Jaspers, Robert Busweiler made 13 saves in goal, including five stops in the fourth quarter. As a result, Busweiler picked up his second win of the season and his second win in three games.
Currently alone in first place in the MAAC, Manhattan will return to Riverdale for its final two games of the regular season. Up next is Providence on Wednesday, April 27 at Gaelic Park. Game time is slated for 3:30 p.m.