ANNAPOLIS, Md. // Led by a career-high 22-save performance by goalkeeper Joseph Persico, the Manhattan men's lacrosse team (2-0) held Navy (3-1) scoreless for the final 26 minutes of the game to earn a 6-5 victory over Navy Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Manhattan outscored the Mids 5-1 in the second half, scoring the final five targets of the contest including the game-winner by graduate midfielder Tadhg O'Riordan with one minute remaining in the game.

"Congratulations to (Head Coach) John (Odierna) and his staff and the Manhattan Jaspers," said Navy head coach Joe Amplo. "Those guys played their tails off today. It was extremely impressive. They had a plan, they stuck to it and they didn't let our early lead get to them. They just kept doing what they do and they did it well. You could see them gaining confidence through the game. It was an impressive performance by them and congrats to them.

"Overall today, offensively especially, we lacked a killer instinct. We just lacked it. I think our guys had an assumption that they were going to win and at this level, if you show up with that assumption, you're going to get what you deserve. Today, we didn't deserve to win, we didn't. With the lack of confidence and lack of killer instinct that we showed offensively and throughout the entire game, truthfully from top to bottom, that was our demise."

Navy jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the game and featured back-to-back goals just 6 seconds apart by Max Hewitt (Jr / M / Denver, Colo.) and Mac Haley (Fr / A / Shady Side, Md.). Hewitt fired in his third goal of the season, beating Persico from the left wing at 11:58. Faceoff specialist Anthony Ghobriel (So / Dallas, Texas) won the ensuing faceoff and fed Haley the pass just seconds later to put the Mids up 2-0.

Rookie Jack Flaherty (M / Massapequa, N.Y.) gave the Mids a 3-0 advantage when he took his defender one-on-one from the top of the box and powered his shot past Persico for his second goal of the season.

Manhattan finally answered at the 2:56 mark in the opening quarter when O'Riordan beat Navy goalkeeper Pat Ryan (Sr / Groton, Mass.) on an unassisted goal.

Navy went on to score the lone goal in the second frame with Keegan Houser (Jr / M / Annapolis, Md.) grabbing a loose ball and firing his shot in from 10 yards out to give the Mids a 4-1 lead at the half.

Navy's defense has been stout in the first half of each of its four contests this season, allowing just a combined 3 goals in the opening quarter and 7 total in the first half. The Mids held the Jaspers to just 16 shots in the first 30 minutes of the game, while Navy targeted just 4 of its 27 shots over that same timeframe.

Navy opened the second half with an impressive wrap-around goal by Jon Jarosz (Jr / A / Gambrills, Md.) at the 11:00 minute mark to extend the Mids' lead to 4 (5-1). That goal, however, would be its last in the game as Navy was unable to find the back of the net on its final 17 shots of the game, including 11 shots in the fourth quarter.

Manhattan, meanwhile, cut into the Navy lead with a pair of goals by Kelly DuPree and Liam Walshe in the third to get to within 2. Walshe and Persico put the Jaspers on their backs in the final frame with Walshe scoring two in a row, including the game-tying goal at 7:06, while Persico made a game-high 7 saves in the quarter. O'Riordan made it bookend goals with his game-winner off an assist from fourth-year starting attackman Kyle Gucwa with just a minute left in the contest.

Navy's starting attack and midfield combined to score just 2 goals on 40 shots after scoring 11 goals on 28 shots a week ago against Hofstra. It marked the first time in co-captain Patrick Skalniak's (Sr / M / Dallas, Texas) career (33 games) in which he did not produce a point. Ironically, his streak began four years ago with a goal and an assist in a 9-4 win over Manhattan. Meanwhile, eight-game point streaks by attackmen Xavier Arline (Jr / Wading River, N.Y.) and Henry Tolker (So / Catonsville, Md.) were also snapped.

Navy did get a boost this week at faceoff from Ghobriel, who won 8 of the 10 draws he took, while Nate Hammond (Sr / Lincoln University, Pa.) won 2 of his 5 faceoffs.

Ryan and rookie Dan Daly (Fr / Wayne, N.J.) combined for 10 saves in the contest. Ryan made 6 saves and gave up just 1 goal in the opening half, while Daly played the second half and made 4 saves while allowing 5 goals. Ryan has given up just 7 goals (4.36 GAA) in 4 appearances this season and owns a 77.4 save percentage.

Walshe paced the Jaspers with his hat trick, followed by O'Riordan's 2 goals and an assist and DuPree's goal on his lone shot of the game.

The Midshipmen will be back in action next Saturday when they make their first trip to High Point, N.C. to battle the Panthers of High Point (2-1). Game time is slated for 11:00 am at Vert Stadium. A live stream will be carried on ESPN+, while live stats will be available on Navy's web site.


### Go Navy ###