POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – The Marist Men’s Lacrosse team rebounded from a four-game losing streak defeating the Manhattan College Jaspers with a final score of 12-4 on Saturday afternoon at Tenney Stadium.
Coming off of a three game losing streak of their own, the Jaspers were competitive the first half, which the Red Foxes led 4-2. However, during the second half Marist ran away with the game as they charged past Manhattan.
Manhattan freshman attacker Sean MacKinney was the first to strike in the game finding the back of the net with 8:10 remaining in the first quarter. Marist senior attacker Gannon Morrison responded with 7:28 left to tie the game at 1-1. Moments after hitting the crossbar, Morrison scored again breaking the stalemate with just under three minutes left in the quarter. However, Manhattan junior midfielder William Ratchford tied the game at two a piece just before the end of the first.
Late into the second quarter, Marist redshirt sophomore attacker Thomas Rago scored and secured the lead. With 2:36 left in the half, senior midfielder Kyle Quinn added a goal of his own. Marist entered the locker room at the half leading 4-2.
Senior captain and goalkeeper Brian Corrigan was happy with the team’s defense during the first half of play and credited the underclassmen for the team’s charge in the second half.
“We weren’t really upset with our six on six defense. We had some young guys step up,” Corrigan said. “Coming out of the half after that it was kinda smooth sailing. It was pretty easy when we were getting possessions and our offense was putting them in the back of the net.”
Redshirt freshman attacker Jake Weiman began Marist’s charge during the second half scoring off an amazing behind the back goal in the opening minutes of play. Manhattan responded within minutes with a goal from junior attacker Cole Johnson assisted by sophomore Luke Hanson with 11:14 remaining in the third quarter. It wasn’t long before Marist freshman attacker Jason Intermesoli scored off an assist from sophomore Jon Constant. The Red Fox duo would link up again with 9:21 left in the quarter and bring Marist’s lead to 7-3. 
Before the end of the third, Intermesoli added another goal achieving his first career hat-trick. Sophomore midfielder Jack Zukowski also joined the party and went the length of the field and scored an unassisted goal off a takeaway, and Weiman amazed the crowd again with a similar behind the back goal. At the end of the third quarter, Marist led 10-3.
Early in fourth quarter, Rago opened up the scoring followed by sophomore midfielder Avery Nesmith off an assist from Morrison. Marist was up 12-3 with under nine minutes remaining in the game.
Manhattan made the final offensive move of the game when sophomore attacker Brandon Grinnell scored with 1:40 left to play. However, Marist’s defense had the last defensive word as Corrigan made a spectacular point blank save with less than a minute left in the game. Winning 12-4, Marist picked up an important conference win and improved their overall record to 2-8.
Morrison attributed the team’s success to the underclassmen who led Marist’s run early in the second half.
“Going into the half we weren’t treating the ball that great. The goalie was making some saves. We tried putting the ball around him and not thinking it about it so much,” Morrison said. “The two young guys putting in big goals for us really got the momentum swinging our way and we were able to feed off of them for the rest of the game.”
Marist’s defense also played a key role as Corrigan had a record season high of 17 saves making his 500th career save during the game.
“It means a lot,” Corrigan said of his career milestone. “There were a lot of guys that came here before me that showed me the way.”
The attackers’ ability to maneuver and cut towards the net paired with the passing accuracy of the team as well as Corrigan’s domination in the net proved to be a winning formula for the Red Foxes.
“It was an unbelievable team wim,” head coach Keegan Wilkinson said. “I’m really proud of the guys… It’s a great step forward but I know the guys are really hungry to get back to work on Monday.”
Marist looks to carry the momentum from Saturday’s game into their next game against Canisius College on March 31 at Tenney Stadium.
