Sacred Heart’s bid for its first trip to the NCAA tournament didn’t get off to a rousing start. Manhattan scored three times in the first five minutes of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game, much to the delight of the home crowd in Riverdale, N.Y.
But, man, did things turn.
Sacred Heart was dominant on both ends of the field and won its 11th straight game, beating the Jaspers, 11-5, to win the MAAC championship and advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.
“We went down three-nothing and it didn't matter, they just stuck with the plan,” said Sacred Heart head coach Jon Basti. “They stuck with the mindset of next-play mentality, and they just kept moving forward. It was a culmination of every day that we've worked this year from September all the way through.”
Basti took over the program in 2014 and led the school to nine-win seasons in 2017 and 2019, the best in the program’s Division I history, but this year has been a breakthrough. The Pioneers are 13-4, shattering the school record for wins in a season, despite beginning the year 0-3.
“This is for every Sacred Heart alumni lacrosse player that's ever been part of this program,” Basti said. “For every coach that's ever been part of this program, for our families…and all the people that have supported us, this is for them. I'm proud that we could bring this to them and to the university.”
There were plenty of stars on Saturday, but none bigger than goalie Alex Pazienza. The second-year starter made 15 saves, including a diving acrobatic stop in the third quarter that was part of a 43-minute scoreless drought for Manhattan. Pazienza also made 19 saves in the semifinal win over Siena.
“He's the toughest kid in our team, probably one of the strongest kids on our team and he just battles,” Basti said. “He's been through a lot personally, and his teammates have had back the whole time, we had his back the whole time. It just shows if you stick to it, and you believe you're the best, you're gonna be the best, and he believes every day.”
Pazienza made five of his saves in the first quarter to keep Manhattan from pulling out to a bigger lead, but the Jaspers did lead 4-3 after the first quarter.
Sacred Heart’s defense was lights out from there, holding the Jaspers without a goal from the 2:22 mark of the first quarter to the 4:06 mark of the fourth quarter. By then, the damage was long done.
Tucker Spencer continued his second-half emergence with six goals on just six shots to lead the Pioneers. After scoring four goals in the first eight games of the season, Spencer has gotten hot with 29 goals in the last seven games.
Leading scorer and MAAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year Morgan O’Reilly added two goals and an assist for Sacred Heart.
Manhattan, which was playing in the MAAC championship game for the third time in the last four years, was led by Quinn Bowler with two goals. Manhattan outshot Sacred Heart 37-28, but failed on all three of its extra-man chances and lost the ground ball battle 34-24.
