Live Stats 

RIVERDALE, N.Y. - The Niagara women's lacrosse team was edged 15-14 by conference opponent the Manhattan Jaspers on Saturday afternoon.  

With a little more than ten minutes to play in the game and the Purple Eagles (3-8; 0-4 MAAC) leading by a 14-10 margin, the Jaspers (4-8; 2-2 MAAC) ending the game on a 5-0 run.  

"Our entire team lacked mental toughness which leads to physical mistakes," head coach Amber Hill said.  "Lacrosse is a game played for 60 straight minutes.  You lose this game when you can't put the physical and mental components together and that's exactly what happened today."  

Junior Fran Pollastro began scoring for the Purple Eagles at the 26:09 mark of the opening half, but sophomore Carly Eskenazi tied things back up less than four minutes later.  

Manhattan and Niagara traded goals again to make it a 2-2 game with 15 minutes gone by, but the Purple Eagles pulled ahead by two off tallies from Pollastro and sophomore Maria Battista.  The Jaspers followed with a 3-1 run to wrap up the first half tied at five apiece heading into intermission.   

Niagara began to apply the pressure on Manhattan in the second stanza, starting with Pollastro who grabbed her third goal of the game less than six minutes in off a feed from freshman Savannah Pearce.  Niagara continued with a 7-2 run which was led by two goals by senior Nicole Karek and sophomore Paige Matecki.  

Manhattan took control of the remainer of the second half though, netting eight of the next nine goals to steal the victory from the Purple Eagles.  

Pollastro helped Niagara with four goals on eight shots, while Karek added three tallies.  Matecki grabbed two scores and an assist and freshman Courtney Pierce contributed three helpers for a three-point night each.  

Sophomore goaltender Kaitlin Sorgi finished the game with eight saves.  

The next stop on the Purple Eagles' three-game roadtrip is Hanover, N.H. where Niagara will battle Dartmouth on Monday, April 16 at 1:30 p.m.