The men’s lacrosse team won its first road game of the season this weekend against Manhattan, 7-2. Villanova produced a defensive effort that Manhattan could not score against and an offense it could not stop.

The Jaspers took the lead in the game 1-0. However, senior Tim Atkins answered back and tied the score 1-1 only 16 seconds into the second period. Manhattan tried to take the lead once again, but junior goalie Andrew DiLoreto saved all four shots in the second period. The Wildcats had five shots on goal and were able to score on two of them, including the first of three goals for the day by junior Tim Driscoll, giving Villanova a 2-1 lead.

Driscoll scored again in the third period to push the score to 3-1, and junior Tim Lanagan scored with only 37 seconds left in the period. Driscoll recorded another goal early in the fourth period to push the lead even further for the Wildcats to 5-1. The Jaspers kept fighting back and placed themselves on the board again with 10:04 remaining in the game to diminish the Villanova lead, 5-2.

Villanova would not let the home team score another goal for the rest of the game, as Atkins scored again with 3:19 remaining in the game, while sophomore Paul Webber regained the Villanova lead, scoring yet another goal to make the score 7-2.

Driscoll, Lanagan and Webber each recorded at least one goal and one assist. Villanova also had six different players assist on the seven goals it scored. DiLoretto finished with seven saves for the day, including five in the first half and two in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats picked up 32 ground balls compared to 24 for the Jaspers. DiLoretto had a game-high of six pick-ups, and the team finished with a 19-17 shot advantage, face-off wins in 7-of-13 opportunities and a successful outcome on 23-of-26 clearing attempts. — C.B.