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Canisius University Athletics

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Canisius goalie Matt Vavonese attempts to elude a Manhattan defender during game acton at Gaelic Park on May 5, 2021
Vincent dusovic
5
Canisius CAN 5-5
10
Winner Manhattan MANM 5-4
Canisius CAN
5-5
5
Final
10
Manhattan MANM
5-4
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Canisius CAN 1 2 0 2 5
Manhattan MANM 3 3 2 2 10

Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse |

Men’s Lacrosse Unable to Solve Manhattan in MAAC Semifinal Setback

Top-seeded Manhattan took an early lead and never looked back as it defeated fourth-seeded Canisius, 10-5, in the semifinals of the 2021 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship Wednesday at Gaelic Park in Riverdale, N.Y.
 
Kyle Gucwa notched a hat trick and added an assist for the Jaspers (5-4), who advanced to Saturday's championship game with the win. Manhattan will face No. 2 seed Monmouth, who recorded a 12-5 victory over No. 6 seed St. Bonaventure in Wednesday's other semifinal contest.
 
Liam Walshe pitched in two goals and an assist while Trevor Pelletier chipped in two tallies. Brandan Krebs made 12 saves in goal for Manhattan.  
 
Five players – junior Mike Penna and freshmen Keegan Kozack, Ryan Furlong, Hunter Parucki and Jackson Webster – accounted for the five goals for the Golden Griffins (5-5), who saw their season come to a close with the loss. Senior Matt Vavonese matched his season high with 14 saves between the pipes for Canisius.  
 
Manhattan never trailed in the contest, as Pelletier opened the scoring at the 11:33 mark of the first before Walshe capped the run with pair of goals just 79 seconds apart to stake the Jaspers to a 3-0 lead near the midway point of the opening quarter.
 
Kozack temporarily halted Manhattan's momentum, closing out the first quarter scoring with an unassisted effort to make it a 3-1 game heading into the second.
 
Gucwa got the Jaspers back on track early in the second quarter, scoring twice in a 17-second span to make it a 5-1 contest.
 
Parucki and Furlong answered back for the Griffs, as the freshmen stuck 2:01 apart from each other to pull the Griffs back within two, only to see Pelletier complete the first-half scoring with his second of the game to make it a 6-3 contest at the break.
 
Manhattan maintained control of the game in the third, scoring the only two goals of the frame with Gucwa completing his hat trick and Sean MacKinney following with his first of the evening less than a minute later to expand the Jaspers margin to 8-3.
 
Webster recorded a man-up goal less than two minutes into the fourth to temporarily pull the Griffs within four, but Justin Malpica countered for Manhattan only 25 seconds later to push the Jaspers lead back to five, 9-4. 
 
The teams traded goals in the last four minutes of regulation with Penna recording his 10th goal of the season on a feed from sophomore Jackson Naylor before Jake Nicolosi closed out the scoring with 1:40 remaining to send Manhattan to the league's championship game for the first time since 2009.
 
Head Coach Mark Miyashita's Postgame Comments
"We struggled early on to execute the small details of the game. Just little errors that, unfortunately, we paid the price for with either the ball in the back of our net or turnovers at inopportune times. That really hampered us getting any kind of rhythm and flow throughout the course of the game. However, looking at it, we played to the last minute. I'm proud of how far this group has come this year. Obviously, to get this close, in the semifinals, and to fall short is frustrating. But, to look at this group and where they've come from since the start of the year and all that they've battled through, I'm very proud of them.
 
"When you look at the number of games we got to play, the fact that we had our schedule, we got into the conference tournament, we got to the semifinals. With all the protocols and obstacles and things that were out there, it was a success from that end of things. We'll use this season as a launching pad to hopefully continue to propel this group of young men that are going to be returning for next year, and have them show the guys that will be coming in what the expectations are. That's a credit to this graduating class that's leaving. They were here as freshmen when myself and coach (Derek) Marks got here. As I said to everyone as we were breaking down the huddle after the game, I'm proud of how far those young men have come in four years. We're very excited for what comes next in their lives and we're just happy to have had the opportunity to work with them during this time. They are leaving this program in a better place than they found it and that's a credit to the work that they've put in during their time with us."
 
Game Notes
• Wednesday's game served as the second postseason meeting between Canisius and Manhattan and the first since 2008.
• Manhattan out-shot Canisius, 38-29, for the game, highlighted by a 12-8 advantage in the first quarter.
• Manhattan won 11-of-18 face offs during the game, including 5-of-7 draws contested in the second half.
• Canisius was 1-for-4 in man-up opportunities while Manhattan was 0-for-3.
• The five goals scored by the Griffs on Wednesday matched their season low in that category, set against Detroit Mercy on April 2.  
• Junior Declan Makuch notched the first point of his collegiate career with an assist on Furlong's second-quarter goal.
• Vavonese recorded double-digit saves for the fifth straight contest as he matched his season high with 14 stops. Vavonese also scooped up a season-best seven ground balls and added two caused turnovers.
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