The Manhattan College women’s soccer team began their MAAC play on Sunday. Coming off a 2-1 victory over Yale, they were looking to beat Niagara for the first time since 2010. After a hard fought game and overtime, it ended with a 1-1 tie and each team leaving with a point.

“At the start of the game,” assistant coach Sarah Brady said,” obviously we always want to win. But if we knew we would come out of this with a point against Niagara, we would be satisfied.”

Niagara has been a tough opponent for the Jaspers. Four of their last five games against each other have been Niagara victories. However, each of these has been one-goal games. It was Manhattan’s defense that stepped up and kept this game a tie.

“I think that makes or breaks a game,” junior forward Tiffanie McIntosh said. “If defense doesn’t step up, the rest of the team doesn’t step up. Collectively, as a whole, everyone has to step up their game so that each section of the field stays together.”

With a lot of their starters injured, the Jaspers went into the game with 14 healthy players. This motivated them even more to play strong defense against their first MAAC opponent.

“It was definitely important,” junior midfielder Colleen Kavanagh said. “We stuck together from the backline to the forwards and played team defense.”

Manhattan’s lone goal came from senior forward Aislinn McIlvenny on a penalty kick in the first half. McIlvenny leads the team with her seventh goal of the season. Junior goaltender Kristen Skonieczny played strongly to help the Jaspers keep the tie.

“It was really important to stay tight and compact,” senior forward Kaelyn Angelo said. “We had to be aware of our runners and make sure that we communicated as a team. We had to be on the same page. It was a good solid defensive effort, especially in overtime.”

With some good offensive chances in the game, the next step was to take advantage of them and score. Both teams held offensive chances and ended with a tie. Skonieczny had some key saves in overtime that held Niagara.

“A tie can be frustrating if you deserve to win,” Coach Brady said, ”but a tie can be borderline elation if you deserve to lose. If we look at it statistically, this team has beaten us four out of the last five times we’ve played them. So we would say it was a good point.”

“Ties are frustrating,” Angelo said, “because we all gutted it out for 110 minutes and we only get one point. “Niagara was a really good team and we kept our composure for the most part. We got the point and it’s still better than a loss.”

Looking forward, the team is excited and ready for their MAAC play to continue. Whether it is a win or a loss, it’s all about points now. Next on their schedule is a matchup against Marist.

“We’ve come in with the right attitude,” Coach Brady said. “It’s being built week by week. We’re going into the MAAC conference with confident focus. We know what we have to do, we know that we’ve done it prior to coming in, and we need to continue it.”

For the most part, the team will continue to play how they are now. Key offensive chances and strong defense have been important to them. They look to keep stay together as a team and tighten the gaps between offense and defense.

“Every game counts now,” Angelo said. “Everything is a point system. We have to keep being strong and communicating. We have to play well like we have been and carry it over to conference play.”

“If we all get up and stay back together,” Kavanagh said, “we’ll get the results we want.”

 

 

 

 

 

After a closely competitive first half, the Manhattan women’s soccer team capitalized on their multiple offensive chances and took a 1-0 victory over the Lafayette Leopards. Coming off of a tough 1-0 loss to URI in overtime, the Jaspers scored early in the second half to take the lead in the game.

During the first half, Lafayette maintained significant pressure. However, Manhattan was able to hold them from scoring and get some great offensive chances of their own. The next step was to capitalize on these chances. Some went off the crossbar; others were saved by Lafayette’s goalie.

“We have to put them away as quickly as possible,” Kaelyn Angelo said. “We need to get in there and get a little stronger. Our attack did an excellent job on creating those chances, we just have to put them away.”

Despite the various opportunities, the Jaspers needed that extra step and that didn’t happen in the first half. One great chance came about 20 minutes into the game. Carly Perry took a corner kick and then Lauren Barton placed it on goal. Lafayette’s goalie blocked it but McIlvenny had the rebound. She had two attempts but the score remained zero.

“We were sometimes hesitant to shoot,” Shannon Garritty said. “We were getting a lot of opportunities but I think we have to shoot more.”

Communication is key during these instances in a game and the Jaspers were strong throughout. Whether it was between the coaches and players on the field, the goalie to the players, or players to each other, the Jaspers communicated well and got the job done.

“As long as we have that strong foundation,” Angelo said, “we’re pretty solid throughout the game.”

While Lafayette maintained heavier pressure, especially in the first half, the Jaspers kept their composure and had a strong defensive game. Goalie Kristen Skonieczny earned her second shutout win of the season and had four saves in the game.

“We just kept playing our game,” Garritty said. “There were times when we started playing the ball like them but at halftime we talked about strategy and how we need to calm down. I think we did that more in the second half.”

“It’s strict communication,” Angelo said. “We always have to be on top of the march running through and keeping everything tight.”

There were some debatable calls from the referees throughout the game. Some were on Manhattan’s side and some were not. No matter what call it was, the Jaspers didn’t let this get to them or affect their game and they continued to play strongly.

“It’s 50/50, we’re either going to get the call or not,” Angelo said. “When you don’t, you have to keep playing and keep your head up.”

“You know that it’s part of the game,” Garritty said. “You can’t dwell on anything.”

Some important chances the Jaspers were given were the offensive corners. They had two in the first half, which might have given them an earlier lead. In addition, they had another one in the second half that could have given them a greater lead. In the end, however, they were able to maintain their defensive pressure.

“Those are great offensive chances,” Garritty said, “ and we need to convert on them.”

After scoring early in the second half, the Jaspers were left with the sometimes tough job of defending their lead. Of course teams want to score first and lead the game but that puts more pressure on them to keep the lead and defensively hold their opponents.

“It’s definitely tough,” Angelo said, “but you have to stay compact or composed. We can’t let anything silly things happen in the backline. We have to just be strong, communicate well and take care of business.”

“It’s a little nerve-wracking,” Garritty said, ”knowing you have the lead and have to keep it. It just gives us even more motivation to work hard and maintain that lead.”

With their season now at 3-2, the Jaspers are off to their best start since 2008 and only look to progress more. Defense has been strong throughout the season. In regulation, they haven’t given up a goal since early in their win against Binghamton.

“We’re already improving a lot,” Garritty said, ”but that can only keep going. We can convert on more offensive chances and I definitely think we’ll get more wins this season.”