RIVERDALE, N.Y. - Manhattan head Men's Lacrosse Coach Tim McIntee announced the schedule for the 2012 Jaspers season. Highlighted by dates with two preseason top-20 opponents, the Jaspers fourteen game slate features six home contests at Gaelic Park.
"I think last year, we bit off more than we could chew playing eight teams in that played in the NCAA Tournament," said Coach McIntee. "This year we have done something different adding programs that match us better."
Past rivalries with national powers Villanova, Denver, and Hofstra have been replaced with rising contenders Lehigh, Providence, and Binghamton. The Friars return to the schedule begins a "home-and-home" series with the BIG EAST foe along with similar plans with Mercer, and Princeton.
The season begins with two consecutive road games as the Jaspers travel to Bethlehem, Pa. on Feb. 25 to face Lehigh before traveling to meet their first of two national title contenders in the Princeton Tigers on Feb. 28. The Tigers were picked preseason number 13 by Lacrosse Magazine and are led by reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year Tom Schrieber.
Manhattan will play their first home game of the season on Sat. March 3 when they host Providence at Gaelic Park. Three days later they will travel to Homewood Stadium in Baltimore, Md. to face off with Preseason Top-5 and NCAA Tournament participant John's Hopkins in a game that will be nationally televised on tape-delay on ESPNU.
The year's longest road stretch continues with contests at Sacred Heart (3/10) and Mercer (3/13) before coming home to take on Binghamton on March 17.
"The non-conference schedule for us is filled with heavy hitters," said the 15th year head coach. "There are some teams I think that are top 30 programs in the country which will be good for us."
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play starts off on March 24 on the road in Buffalo, N.Y. when they take on Canisius. Following that contest, the Jaspers begin their longest home stand of the season with a conference game against 2011 conference tournament participant Detroit on March 31 before stepping outside of MAAC play to host Wagner on April 3.
Virginia Military Institute (VMI) will come to Gaelic Park on April 7 on a night where the Jaspers will honor their 2002 MAAC Championship team for their ten year reunion. Following will be two consecutive home games against 2011 MAAC tournament players Marist (April 14) and Jacksonville (April 21) in the programs first ever conference game in the state of Florida. The final game of the year will be played at home against defending conference champion Siena at 7 p.m. on April 28.
"We finished last season beating a playoff team in Jacksonville and then one-goal games with Canisius," McIntee said. "At the end of the season we finished 3-13 and that's what we are coming back in to this year until we make change. And we feel we will make change."
The MAAC Tournament will be played in Tenney Stadium at Leonidoff Field on the campus of Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. beginning May 4 with the Championship game on May 6. The top four teams in the league will make the conference tournament.
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Click here to see Manhattan Men's Lacrosse 2012 Schedule.