Photo by Bill Sommers II

Box Score

Riverdale, NY – The Wagner men's lacrosse team, led by first-year head coach Bill McCutcheon, engaged in its second straight one-goal road battle but, unlike last Saturday when the Green & White were victorious, the Seahawks came out on the short end on Saturday, dropping a hard-fought 11-10 decision to Manhattan.
 
Coming on the heels of last week's 7-6 overtime win at Bellarmine, the Seahawks are now 1-1 on the young season while today's game was the season opener for the Jaspers, who go to 1-0.
 
Wagner exploded out of the gates in this one off a tremendous individual effort by junior Nick Warren, who opened the game by winning the opening faceoff and collecting the ground ball himself, before sprinting up the field and scoring to put the Seahawks in top just eight seconds into the game.
 
After Manhattan ended the opening quarter on a 3-1 run, Wagner's second goal of the game came with 42 seconds left when sophomore midfielder Tyler Grady deposited the first of his two goals this one off an assist from senior midfielder Spencer Kaufman, to make it a 3-2 game.
 
Twenty-eight seconds later, with just 14 ticks left in the first quarter, Manhattan found the net in taking a 4-2 lead into the second.
 
Consecutive goals by Wagner, out of the sticks of Kaufman (assist by senior attackman Davis Prince) and junior attack Nic Ancona (unassisted), knotted the game at 4-4 midway through the second quarter. That's the way the score stood until Manhattan's Justin Malpica buried a shot with just 1:20 left in the half to give the Jaspers a 5-4 lead at the break.
 
Following intermission, the Jaspers found the net two straight times in the first 2:25 of the third quarter, opening their biggest lead of the game at 7-4. Seahawk junior attackman Dominic Branda got one back with a score at the 11:06 mark (assist by junior attackman Dylan Kaminski) to make it 7-5.
 
Just 21 seconds later, Manhattan scored to again make it a three-goal game at 8-5 with 10:45 left in the third.
 
The defenses then took over for the next five-plus minutes before Ancona found the net for his second goal at the 5:30 mark, this one off an assist from senior attackman John Norton, which made it 8-7. Then, with 2:03 left in the third, Wagner struck again when freshman midfielder Stephen Dwyer connected on an assisted goal which made it an 8-7 game entering the pivotal fourth quarter.
 
Both teams notched goals in the opening 3:17 of the final stanza with Kaufman answering a Luke Hanson goal with his second of the game (assist by senior midfielder Matt Cechini), that drew Wagner to within 9-8 with 11:43 remaining.
 
After Manhattan's Brandon Grinnell scored at the 8:23 mark to push the Jasper lead to 10-8, the Seahawks responded with a pair of their own. With 7:07 to go, Grady tallied his second goal of the game (unassisted) to make it 10-9 before Norton slammed home an unassisted score of his own with 3:41 left to forge the game's third tie at 10-10.
 
With 2:43 remaining, however, Manhattan struck for the game winner when Parker Giarratana notched his fourth score to make it 11-10 and the Jaspers were able to hang on from there.
 
Statistically, the game was about as dead even as the final score would suggest. Wagner held a 39-36 edge in shots while Manhattan led in ground balls by a 31-29 count. Faceoffs were also as close as could be with the Jaspers holding a scant 13-12 advantage in the X. Wagner was 19-of-20 on clear attempts while Manhattan was 16-of-18.
 
The Seahawks were 1-of-1 in man-up goals and did not commit a single penalty in the contest, thus the Jaspers were unable to mount any man-up opportunities.
 
Kaufman paced the Seahawks with three points (2g, 1a), while Ancona (2g) and Grady (2g) finished with two points apiece. Norton also finished with a two-point game (1g, 1a), while tallying one point each were Dwyer (1g), Branda (1g), Warren (1g), Cechini (1a), Kaminski (1a), and Prince (1a).
 
Senior defensemen Connor Davis and Riley Owens were the team leaders in ground balls with six and five, respectively. Davis and Cechini paced the Seahawks in caused turnovers with two apiece. Warren finished 12-of-24 on faceoffs while junior midfielder Matt McAnaney was 0-of-1 in the X.
 
In goal, senior Matt Sefcik came up with 11 saves while Manhattan's Brendan Krebs had 13.
 
The Seahawks are next in action on Friday, February 15, when Wagner hosts Lafayette. In what will mark
the first home game in the Billl McCutcheon era, faceoff between the Seahawks and the Leopards next Friday at Hameline Field is set for 4:00 p.m.

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