Men's Lacrosse Bests Manhattanville, 12-9, Saturday Afternoon

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's lacrosse team bounced back, defeating the Manhattanville University (Manhattanville) Valiants, 12-9, on a rainy Saturday afternoon during the team's home opener on the USJ Lacrosse Field in West Hartford, Conn. Senior attack Ryan Paltauf (Southbury, Conn.) paced the Blue Jays offense, tallying five points, including a hat-trick. With the result, the Blue Jays move to 2-1 overall, while the Valiants drop to 3-1.

KEY MOMENTS 

• The Valiants would strike first, taking advantage of a man-up opportunity to hold a 1-0 lead at the 12:38 mark.
• USJ quickly responded as sophomore midfielder Nick Pestrichello (Newington, Conn.) found Paltauf, who rifled a shot into the net, tying the score at 1-1 with 10:27 mark.
• The goal sparked a USJ run, as junior attack Evan Zimnoch (Southington, Conn.) gave the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead with a solo goal at the 9:06 mark, before freshman attack Matthew Wurszt (Wilbraham, Mass.) established a 3-1 USJ edge, sending the hosts into the second quarter with the lead.
• Pestrichello carried the scoring run into the second quarter, finding the back of the net at the 14:27 mark, increasing the advantage to 4-1.
• Manhattanville would put an end to the run with a goal at the 11:03 mark, but junior midfielder Luke von Borstel (Massena, N.Y.) and Paltauf quickly fired back with a pair of strikes, increasing the Blue Jays lead to 6-2, with 5:36 left in the half.
• The Valiants would not go away though, scoring two unanswered goals to close the half, cutting the gap to two, 6-4.
• Manhattanville struck first in the third quarter, utilizing a man-up goal to pull back within one, 6-5, at the 11:10 mark.
• Paltauf rounded out his hat-trick at the 10:38 mark, finding the back of the net after a pass from Zimnoch, but the visitors responded, scoring with 8:36 on the clock to close the deficit back to one, 7-6.
• USJ began to pull away however, starting with a solo strike from junior midfielder Christian Decker (Bristol, Conn.), as senior midfielder Sam Barbetti (Guilford, Conn.) and Wurszt rounded out a three-goal stretch for the Blue Jays, establishing a 10-6 USJ lead after the third quarter.
• Manhattanville responded in kind to open the fourth, netting three unanswered goals to get back within one, 10-9, with 7:44 left to play.
• However, senior attack Evan Baden (Burlington, Conn.) and Decker would put the game to rest, scoring two goals to end the quarter as the Blue Jays took emerged as 12-9 victors.

NOTES 

• Paltauf paced the team with three goals and two assists.
• Decker and Wurszt, who scored his first collegiate goals, finished with two goals each.
• Barbetti was a force defensively, causing a team-high five turnovers.
• He also racked up a team-high eight ground balls.
• Von Borstel paced the team from the faceoff "x" going 8-of-12 on the day.
• Senior goalkeeper Trey McCann (Simsbury, Conn.) played all 60 minutes in net, tallying 11 saves to move to 2-1 on the year.

UP NEXT

The Blue Jays round out a two-game homestand on Tuesday, March 5, welcoming intrastate foes Eastern Connecticut. Opening faceoff against the Warriors is slated for 4:00 p.m on the USJ Lacrosse Field in West Hartford, Conn.

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