April 24, 2004
Box Score
Poughkeepsie, NY - The Marist College men's lacrosse team earned the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Lacrosse League Regular Season title this afternoon, defeating host Manhattan College 12-10. The Red Foxes, winners in six of its last seven games, improve to 9-5 overall and are a perfect 7-0 in conference action. The Jaspers fall to 6-5 on the year and 4-2 in the MAAC.
Trailing 4-3 at halftime, Keith Detelj and Brian Diele lifted the Red Foxes to the win, as Marist outscored the host 9-6 in the final half. Billy Duerr knotted the game at 4-4 just 70 seconds into the second half. Detelj netted a goal with 12:11 remaining in the third quarter to give the Red Foxes a 5-4 lead and Dan Kushner scored with 10:52 to play in the quarter. Diele netted his first of the game with 8:05 to play, before the Jaspers scored twice to end the third quarter with Marist leading 7-6.
Manhattan struck first in the final quarter, tying the score at 7-7 with 12:35 to play. Diele gave the Red Foxes an 8-7 lead with 11:24 to play, but that lasted just 60 seconds, before the Japers knotted the score again. Detelj netted his third of the game with 9:58 to play, for a 9-8 edge, but that was also short lived as the Jaspers tied the score 36 seconds later. Diele would tally the game-winning-goal with 7:46 to play in the contests, and Josh Ben-Eliyahu would score 26 seconds later to make it 11-9, and Detelj would wrap up the Marist scoring with 4:34 to play. Manhattan reached double-digits with 3:16 to play, but would get no closer.
Steve Gravino was solid in net again for Marist, making 12 saves, including five in the crucial back-and-forth battle in the final quarter. His counterpart for Manhattan, Robert Busweiler had seven saves, but did not have a save in the fourth quarter.
Diele tallied five points on the day, a game-high, with three goals and two assist. Detelj led the Red Foxes in goals, netting four, while Ben-Eliyahu added three. Duerr had a goal and an assist, and Kushner added his goal
With the win, the Red Foxes clinch the Regular Season Title and top-seed in the May 7-9th MAAC Tournament in Buffalo, NY. The Red Foxes also have clinched a winning season, with a least three games to play, for the first time since the 1988 team went 8-3.
Marist looks for its first 10-win season since 1986 (12-2) on Wednesday, as it hosts Sacred Heart at 7:00 pm. The Red Foxes close out the regular season and their quest for a perfect MAAC season, on Saturday, May 1st, hosting Wagner at 7:00 pm.
