In a critical conference game, Siena Men's Lacrosse had a resounding answer to how they would bounce back on the road as it picked up an important 10-6 wire-to-wire victory at Manhattan's Gaelic Park on Saturday afternoon.
After dropping its last two games, the Saints shook it off and came in aggressive and ready from the onset.
The offense was sparked by fifth-year midfielder Christian Watts' hat trick in the opening half and a prickly defense that staked them out to a 6-1 halftime advantage on the Jaspers' Senior Day.
In the second half, it was sophomore attack Pratt Reynolds, who carried the offense with all three goals of his goals after the break to take an 8-2 lead at the end of three.
His goal with 13:10 remaining in the fourth quarter made it an even more comfortable 10-2 advantage.
The Saints (6-6 overall, 4-4 MAAC) also received goals from Ryan McCarthy, Zac Schuette, George Rusnak and Jack Erb.
The win for Siena broke a two-game skid in the head-to-head series against Manhattan.
Siena had defeated them in 14 straight games from March of 2007 through March of 2019 prior to that.
Siena controls its MAAC Tournament postseason destiny with a win against Mount St. Mary's (8-6, 7-1 MAAC) on Saturday at 1 p.m. on Senior Day from Hickey Field.
The Saints currently are tied for fifth with Sacred Heart with a 4-4 conference record.
The top six teams in the conference qualify for the postseason. Bunched in a crowded field, there are six teams playing for the final four playoff spots that are within one game of one another.
Junior defense Trevor Marsala made history on the day with his two caused turnovers, passing Jack Drillock's record of 54 caused turnovers to become the program's all-time leader.
The statistic has been tracked since the 2007 season.
Drillock played from 2017 to 2020.
The defense was also boosted by the performance of sophomore Andrew Rooney, who led the team with four ground balls and four caused turnovers.
Manhattan (9-4 overall, 6-2 MAAC) scored the last four goals of the game to tighten it.
The Saints outshot Manhattan 31-23 through the first three quarters before Manhattan outshot the Saints 14-5 in the final frame.
Siena held a 22-14 advantage for shots on goals and a 31-20 edge in ground balls.
Fifth-year goalkeeper
Christopher Yanchoris made eight saves to pick up his sixth win of the season.
Yanchoris now has 474 career saves and will have an opportunity to become just the sixth player in program history to make 500 career saves.
Alex Berberian (1998-2001) currently ranks sixth in the category with 497 saves.
