Riverdale, NY - Freshman attacker Grace Lipponer (Lake Grove, NY / Sachem North) tallied four points, senior tri-captain Molly Fitzpatrick (Yorktown, NY / Lakeland) potted four goals and Manhattan withstood a LIU Brooklyn rally in the second half for a 9-7 win on Wednesday evening at Gaelic Park. The Jaspers earn their first home win of 2019 and have won straight, improving to 2-1. The Blackbirds stumble to 0-4 on the season. Manhattan was stellar in the first half, recording six goals while shutting out the Blackbirds' offense. When LIU Brooklyn cut the lead to 7-6 in the second half, junior midfielder Deb Peifer (Collegeville, PA / Methacton) rolled from the right side and whipped a shot into the upper-right of the cage for an 8-6 edge. Less than a minute later, senior midfielder Caitlin Murphy (Carmel, NY / Carmel) found sophomore attacker Alaina Burgess (Holden, MA / The Governor's Academy) cutting through the middle, and Burgess scored to make it a three-goal game with 14:20 to play. Senior tri-captain Nikki Prestiano (Yorktown Heights, NY / Yorktown) made 10 saves in net, allowing seven goals. The Kelly Green and White focuses its attention to Saturday, March 2 when they host unbeaten Lafayette at 1:00 pm. INSIDE THE NUMBERS Manhattan shut out an opponent in a half for the first time since March 10, 2018, when it held Wofford off the scoreboard in the first half. In the opening stanza, the Jaspers outshot LIU Brooklyn 19-8 and controlled five draws to the Blackbirds' two. Fitzpatrick is now eighth in program history in career goals with 96, surpassing Caralyn Hickey '10. She is one shy of Phelicia VanOverbeke '11 for seventh on the list. It is also the 11th time in her tenure Fitzpatrick has scored four times in a game. She has a squad-best eight tallies. Lipponer earned her first career assists, all of them on Fitzpatrick goals, and now leads the team with nine points. Freshman midfielder Annie Freshour (Smithtown, NY / Smithtown East) deposited the first goal of her career. A Jasper has accomplished that in three consecutive games. Prestiano boosted her season save-percentage to .580. Peifer's performance, a goal and an assist, was the first multi-point effort of her career. In addition to her score, Burgess also gained her first-career assist. Senior tri-captain Emma Kaishian (Yorktown, NY / Yorktown) led the team with seven ground balls as well as a pair of caused turnovers and draw controls. Fitzpatrick also caused two turnovers, while junior midfielder Emily Sandford (Floral Park, NY / Sacred Heart) and fresman attacked Cassidy Burns (Massapequa, NY / Plainedge) controlled two draws. FIRST HALF Lipponer opened the scoring at exactly the five-minute mark of the first half. Fitzpatrick beat LIU Brooklyn keeper Sam Kidd to the right on the free-position to make it 2-0 with 17:25 until halftime. Just after the midpoint, Lipponer stood atop the eight-meter arc on the free-position attempt, took two steps forward and flung it in past Kidd. At 11:53, Burns tossed it to Peifer up top, who floated it to a weaving Freshour for the rookie's score. Behind the net with 8:54 remaining, Lipponer passed to Fitzpatrick and the senior broke around the goal and lofted the shot over Kidd's head. After missing high on a free-position opportunity, Fitzpatrick redeemed herself, catching a pass from Lipponer from behind the cage and finding nylon with 3:26 left in the period. SECOND HALF LIU Brooklyn found the back of the net four times in the first 10 minutes, but Lipponer and Fitzpatrick connected for a third time with 18:34 on the clock to break the run. At 15:20, Peifer wanted for the offense to clear the zone, then dashed through the middle and made it an 8-6 ballgame. At 14:27, Murphy went left off a Peifer screen and dished it to Burgess, who narrowly beat a Blackbird defender for the goal. Five of Prestiano's 10 stops came after Burgess' goal, including a nab that denied Elise Person from close-range on the left wing with 12:57 remaining. Her final save of the evening came off a free-position halt coming from Bianca Santucci.