Jaspers stumble in MAAC LAX opener

Drew Kelleher’s 2017 recruiting class included 18 newcomers to the Manhattan men’s lacrosse program. Kelleher, now in his second year as head coach of the Jaspers, would be in charge of a team consisting of 18 freshmen and just 12 upperclassmen on the Jaspers roster this season.

 On Saturday, Manhattan’s inexperience showed in its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener against the Detroit Mercy Titans. The Jaspers jumped out to an early lead, but the Titans staged a furious comeback to pull out a 14-11 win.

“When you’re relying on freshmen to be in a close game that early in their league career, you’re going to see mistakes,” Kelleher said. “I’m really proud of how hard our guys played. I know that our young guys will be better from that experience.”

Kelleher believes the freshmen will use the loss against Detroit as a learning tool just as the first-year players have been building on their experiences all season. Manhattan has received many contributions from its freshmen, who have played a big role on the team so far. Of the squad’s top-five point scorers, three are freshmen.

Their performance is something Kelleher attributes to the leadership from the few veterans on the team.

“Where I’m most proud is the seniors who are helping those young guys,” Kelleher said. “We only have five seniors on the roster, and they’re doing a really good job of showing 18-year-old young men how to play at the Division 1 level. I know the lesson the freshmen are learning right now will pay off down the road.”

On Saturday, a pair of freshmen put Manhattan on the board. After Detroit took a 1-0 lead, Brandon Grinnell and C.J. Scharf scored for the Jaspers, who would score three consecutive goals to take a 3-1 lead.

“We had a big team meeting on Thursday talking about we have to be who we are, and results can’t change who we are,” Kelleher said. “And I thought our guys did a really good job with that.  We put ourselves in a position to win.”

Manhattan put itself in that position several times against Detroit. After the Titans tied the game up at 3, Manhattan went in front, 5-3. Detroit then scored six unanswered goals to take a 9-5 lead, but Manhattan responded with a spurt of four consecutive goals early in the third period to knot the game at 9-9.

Manhattan looked in prime position to steal a game on the road. It was still tied at nine halfway through the third period, but Detroit ended the game by scoring five of the last seven goals to secure the win. The Jaspers now head home for two MAAC contests.

“We turned a major corner this past week with our competitive energy and establishing our identity, and I’m excited to show that to our home crowd,” Kelleher said.

The Jaspers stand at 2-6 on the season, just one win shy of tying last season’s total. With the start of MAAC play now here, every win is valuable for the Jaspers, who will need to finish in the top four in the conference in order to qualify for the MAAC Tournament.

“I think our league is very even,” Kelleher said. “I think the parity in our league is outstanding. I think it’s wide open. I’m not a huge ‘tell-you-where-we’re-going-to-be-in-six-weeks’ kind of guy. But I’ll tell you that I know my team will keep improving.”