Boxscore

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Senior Holly Nonis (Brampton, Ontario) tied her career high with three goals and the Manhattanville women's soccer team came back from a goal down on three separate occasions to force a 4-4 (2OT) tie with DeSales University in a key Freedom Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon.

Nonis was the offensive star for Manhattanville on the afternoon, as the senior matched her career high with three goals and six points. The senior's third career hat trick was the 24th in program history and in the process more than doubled her season goal total from two to five. All three of Nonis' strikes brought the resilient Valiants back from one-goal deficits, keeping the visitors in the game against the high-scoring Bulldogs and earning a critical point in both teams' conference opener.

The Valiant senior was not the only player on the field to find the back of the net three times, however, as freshman Brady Walsh played a role in all four DeSales scores with three goals and an assist for a seven-point day.

After scoring only twice in the first half, the teams came out of intermission with a frenzy of activity, as all six second-half goals were scored in the first 12:19 of the frame.

A mere 1:32 in, Meghan Monroy and Walsh connected for a second time for DeSales, although this time it was Walsh feeding Monroy for the goal that gave DeSales a 2-1 lead. But the lead was short-lived for the home team, as sophomore Morgan Rebollal (Holtsville, N.Y.) sent a through ball to Nonis 2:38 later and the senior touched it under the keeper for her second of the day.

The celebration had barely worn off for Manhattanville before Walsh struck again, taking a pass from Jena Meaney and picking the left corner only 19 seconds after the game was tied. But the resilient Valiants came from behind for a third time thanks to Nonis, as she collected a free kick from junior Natalie Green (Vernon, Conn.) and found the far corner of the net to tie the score at three with her fifth of the year at the 52:29 mark.

The visitors kept the pressure on for a change after Nonis' third strike, and that pressure paid off in the 58th minute. Sophomore Charlotte Hotaling (Southfield, Mich.) served a beautiful cross into the box onto the waiting head of Rebollal, who knocked the ball in and gave the Valiants their first lead of the day at 4-3.

Unfortunately for Manhattanville, the goal hangover incredibly came back to bite them yet again, as Walsh headed home a score of her own 17 seconds later, re-tying the game at four.

After that massive flurry of activity, it only made sense that the remainder of the match saw no scoring, though not due to a lack of effort on the Valiants' part. Manhattanville fired 26 shots (nine on goal) in the 110 minutes of action, 12 more than their Bulldog counterparts.

Nonis nearly ended the game 2:56 into overtime, but the attempt for her fourth goal of the game caromed off the post and out, and neither team could find the net the rest of the way.

Walsh opened the scoring in the 13th minute, as she took a pass from Monroy and rang it off the near post and in for her ninth of the year. But Nonis and the Valiants, as they would all afternoon, responded quickly, as Nonis collected a cross from classmate Gina Hayes (Cutchogue, N.Y.) and volleyed it into the back of the net less than three minutes later at the 15:18 mark of the half.

The teams went into halftime tied at one despite the Valiants posting an 11-4 edge in total shots  (4-1 on goal) and holding DeSales without an shot for the final 32-plus minutes of the frame after Walsh's goal.

In a day that was not kind to the goalkeepers, senior Ali Bromson (Suffield, Conn.) made four saves for Manhattanville while Melissa Millili made five for DeSales.

Manhattanville (0-9-1, 0-0-1 Freedom) will take a break from Freedom Conference play on Tuesday, when the Valiants host Ramapo College for a non-conference clash under the lights of GoValiants.com Field starting at 7 p.m. The match will be video streamed live online at GoValiants.TV beginning at 6:55 p.m. DeSales (5-5-1, 0-0-1 Freedom) will host non-conference Albright College on Wednesday also at 7 p.m.