Riverdale, N.Y. (September 10, 2006)-The Lady Jaspers defeated Virginia Military Institute 6-0 on Sunday morning in Manhattan's home opener. The win was significant for two reasons; first, at 5-0, the Lady Jaspers equaled a school record for consecutive wins to start a season, set in 1995. Secondly, the Lady Jaspers broke a school record set in 1999 for consecutive games without allowing a goal, now at five.
The streak nearly came to an end with the game well in hand. With the Lady Jaspers already winning 6-0, Manhattan was whistled for a foul in the box in the 78th minute, awarding a penalty kick to VMI's Audrey Falconi. Goalkeeper
Alicia DeFino was able to preserve the streak, saving Falconi's low shot down the middle.
Manhattan continued to put up impressive offensive numbers, tagging VMI's keepers Jessica Rheinlander and Kathleen Underwood for six goals, four in the first half.
Freshman
Amanda Fischer got the scoring going, tallying her first collegiate goal at 4:30 on a curling shot from just outside the box, after a pass back from
Rachel Pannullo. At 19:15, Chrissy Reina tallied her first of two straight goals, heading in a cross from Fischer on the right side of the net. Just four minutes later, Reina struck again. Fischer played a beautiful through ball to
Jess Garcia who had a breakaway to the net. With Rheinlander closing in on her, Garcia fed a crossing pass across the goal line to Reina, who put the ball away. At 32:35, freshmen
Amanda McCormick added her first collegiate goal to make it 4-0.
After holding an 8-6 advantage in shots in the first half, Manhattan scored twice more in the second half. Senior
Katie Kuntz put home her team leading fifth goal, heading in
Alexandra Konneker's pass at 52:54. In the 76th minute, Pannullo made it 6-0 after being awarded a penalty kick when she was taken down in the box; Pannullo immediately put away the PK for her first goal of the season.
The Lady Jaspers have now outscored their opponents 17-0 in five games. Manhattan will go for its sixth straight victory next Friday at 4:00 p.m as the undefeated Lady Jaspers begin a two game Philadelphia road trip against Temple University.
