Boxscore

ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – Down by two goals to second-seeded Eastern University and seemingly out of answers, seniors Holly Nonis (Brampton, Ontario) and Ali Bromson (Suffield, Conn.) put the third-seeded Manhattanville women's soccer team on their backs – and as a result, the Valiants will once again play for the title that was denied them by the Eagles a year ago.

After coming back from a two-goal deficit in regulation and holding Eastern scoreless in overtime to end play tied at two, Manhattanville went a perfect 4-for-4 on penalty kicks to shock the Eagles, 4-1 in kicks, to win an epic Freedom Conference Tournament semifinal battle on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon at Olson Field.

Befitting the stakes, 110 minutes could not determine a winner. Losing the coin flip, Manhattanville went first in penalty kicks and immediately put the pressure on Eastern, as sophomore Sonia Occhionero (Montreal, Quebec) stepped to the dot and slotted a ball easily into the left corner. Although Bethany Engle tied the score by finding the right-side netting, freshman Deborah Gilwit (New Rochelle, N.Y.) regained the Valiant advantage by placing a perfect ball into the side of the net, even though Eastern keeper Aly Goodman guessed correctly.

The next kicker provided the key play of the shootout, as Bromson guessed correctly on Kelsey Doutrich's attempt and made a tremendous diving save at the right post to give the Valiants an edge. Nonis then secured the break by firing the ball past Goodman, as she ran from the top of the 18 and slammed the ball into the back of the net.

After Katie Ruth gave Manhattanville another opening by firing her team's third attempt off the crossbar, sophomore Brittney Smith (Stratford, Conn.) sent the Valiant side into celebration mode by picking the lower-right corner and sending the visitors into the championship game.

“I went into it thinking that I needed to save the first one, but even though they scored I felt that I could save one and that I needed to save one,” Bromson said. “I knew that once I made one save, we would go from there. [Penalty kicks] are not my specialty, but I practiced all week and I tried to read the players' hips and feet. Obviously it worked out well.”

For Valiant head coach Matt Paton, having Bromson on his side was a definite advantage going into penalty kicks.

 “I was very confident going into penalty kicks for one reason – we had Ali,” Paton said. “I knew she would come up with at least one save, and just one stop puts you in the driver's seat. We practiced penalty kicks on Monday and Tuesday, and all four players executed them just like they did during the week.”

With the victory, third-seeded Manhattanville (3-13-3) advances to Saturday's Freedom Conference Championship game, where the Valiants will take on top-seeded FDU-Florham, which defeated Misericordia University, 2-1, in today's second semifinal. The game is set for 1 p.m. in Madison, N.J.

Despite being outplayed for much of the game, the end result was a great escape for the Valiants, who were outshot by a 22-6 margin in 110 minutes and had precious few chances to score.

The match looked lost for the visitors with 21:30 remaining in the contest, as Eastern had a 2-0 lead and seemed in full control. But the match turned swiftly thanks to the right foot of Nonis, who scored twice in 4:28 to tie the score at two and send the team to an improbable victory.

Going against the run of play, Manhattanville finally found a crack in the Eastern back line at the end of the 65th minute, when Nonis halved the deficit. Sophomore Morgan Rebollal (Holtsville, N.Y.) won the ball in midfield and feathered a nice through ball to Nonis, who wound up and fired a rocket past Goodman for her 11th of the year.

The Valiants used the exact same formula less than five minutes later, as Rebollal again sent a ball over the Eastern defense for an onrushing Nonis. Coming in from the side this time, the senior slipped the sphere under a sprawling Goodman to knot the score at two and move herself into third place all-time in points at Manhattanville with 104.

“My first goal was the best opportunity for me personally all game, and I just put it away,” Nonis said. “The through ball worked the first time, and so we tried it again. Our team as a whole really picked it up after the first goal, and it turned into a great outcome.”

At the end of regulation, Eastern was in control on the stat sheet with a 17-5 advantage in shots, but a combination of Nonis' two great strikes and more spectacular goalkeeping from Bromson allowed the Valiants to stay alive into overtime.

The Valiants came literally inches away from winning the match two minutes into the second overtime, as a ball was sent forward to Smith, who touched it by the keeper. However, she was knocked down and couldn't get to the ball and as it rolled tantalizingly close to the goal line, it was knocked away inches from goal by an Eastern defender.

Eastern took the game to Manhattanville in the first 10 minutes, scoring just 3:02 into the match as a corner kick from Carly Inch was flicked on to Doutrich at the back post for an easy header and a 1-0 lead for the home team. Bromson kept it a one-goal deficit with five minutes remaining, when Amy Thomas fired a rocket from the top of the 18 and the senior keeper needed a vertical leap to barely parry the ball up over the crossbar.

Less than 10 minutes into the second half, the home team almost struck again on a corner kick, but junior Lauren Schobel (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) stuck to the back post and got a foot on a shot that look destined for the back of the net. Eastern did get that second goal about four minutes later, as Tess Beckwith took a through ball from Kristine Zeiset and looped a ball over the head of Bromson and under the crossbar to double the Eastern lead.

However, Bromson made a leaping save to deny Allison Inch with 29 minutes remaining, and another attempt soon after was denied by Bromson again to keep the Valiants within reach. While it didn't seem big at the time, all those great saves ended up being the footnote for one of the most improbable comebacks in program history.

The Valiants will look to complete the fairy tale and get back to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history on Saturday.