The Quinnipiac men’s lacrosse team fell to the Manhattan Jaspers 12-5 in a much anticipated MAAC matchup on a sunny Wednesday afternoon in Hamden, Conn.

Despite the loss, head coach Mason Poli was optimistic after the game. “I thought the boys fought; it wasn’t a matter of the will not being there and that’s going to continue being the message heading into Saturday,” Poli said.

The Bobcats played the Jaspers extremely well in the first half. Quinnipiac finished the first quarter with a 3-2 lead. Senior John DeLucia led the way for the Bobcats with two goals and an assist on the day. Those three points on the day for DeLucia pushed his season total to thirty points, which leads the team. First-year Justin Robbert continues his sensational rookie campaign as he contributed a goal and an assist in the loss. Graduate student Nick DiMuccio made 15 saves in the game.

After the first quarter, it was all Manhattan. They outscored Quinnipiac 4-1 in the second quarter to take a 6-4 lead into halftime. The avalanche didn’t stop there for Manhattan, they outscored Quinnipiac 6-1 in the second half to win the game by a wide margin 12-5.

It was a balanced attack from the Jaspers, ten different players recorded a point in the win. Additionally, the twelve goals came from nine different players. Sophomore Scott O’Connor made the most noise for Manhattan as he was able to find the back of the net three separate times.

It wasn’t the offense that was the most astounding part of the game for the Jaspers. Their defense was impeccable – limiting the Bobcats to a season-low in shots (30), shots on goal (13), shooting percentage (.167), and shots on goal percentage (.433).

Graduate student goalkeeper Joseph Persico made eight saves and the five goals allowed equaled a season-low in goals allowed by Persico.

With the loss, Quinnipiac falls to 4-4 on the season and 2-2 in MAAC play. With the win, Manhattan improves to 7-2 overall and 4-0 in conference play.

Quinnipiac will travel to face Mount St. Mary’s for the first time since 2013 on Saturday at 12 PM. Manhattan will put its perfect conference record on the line next against Marist on Saturday as well at Gaelic Park.