Boxscore

PURCHASE, N.Y. – With a season potentially hanging in the balance and a key Freedom Conference match on the horizon, seniors Holly Nonis (Brampton, Ontario) and Ali Bromson (Suffield, Conn.) apparently decided that the Manhattanville women's soccer team had had enough of losing.

Nonis scored the only goal of the game in the first half and Bromson came up with eight huge saves as the Valiants picked up their first victory of the season with an important 1-0 win over Freedom Conference foe Misericordia University on a sunny Saturday afternoon at GoValiants.com Field.

In a match that both teams needed to win early in the conference slate, one goal was all that the Valiants ending up needing to earn the victory. That goal came in the 33rd minute, when sophomore Morgan Rebollal (Holtsville, N.Y.) chipped a ball over the Cougar defense to Nonis, who deposited it into the left corner of the net for her team-leading sixth goal of the season.

For Nonis, her first game-winning goal of the season was the 10th of her career, moving her into sole possession of fourth place on the school's all-time list.

That goal was more than enough for Bromson, who stopped all eight shots for the 20th shutout of her career, placing her alone in second place all-time at the school. The senior netminder stopped five shots in the first half and three more in the second to pick up the clean sheet, while Misericordia senior Morgan Myers made six saves on seven shots to suffer the loss.

Manhattanville held a 16-13 edge in total shots, even though Misericordia held a slight 8-7 advantage in shots on target. The Valiants also posted a 6-1 edge in corner kicks, as the home team kept pressure on the Cougars throughout the afternoon.

The first great chance of the game came for Misericordia in the 17th minute, as senior Kim Suchoski took a pass near midfield and went in all alone on Bromson. The Suffield, Conn., native came out to cut down the angle and as a result Suchoski did not get a great shot off, firing the ball right at the Valiant keeper to keep the game scoreless.

After Nonis put the Valiants in front with her tally, Misericordia upped the offensive pressure for the remainder of the half and required Bromson to make some acrobatic saves to keep the home team in front. With five minutes left in the half, Suchoski fired a ball from the side of the 18 that seemed destined for the net, but Bromson sprawled to her right to push the ball away. The subsequent clearance attempt went right to junior Andrea Sierer at the penalty spot, but she put her rushed shot well over a wide-open net.

The Valiants kept the Cougars at bay throughout the second half as well to pull out the win. Sophomore Laura Roney had a great chance in the box with five minutes remaining to tie the score for the visitors, but her half-volley from six yards went high of Bromson's net and Manhattanville held on for a very key victory.