Boxscore

RYE, N.Y. – Sophomore All-American Katie Little (Victoria, B.C.) picked up right where she left off last season, scoring a pair of goals to start a string of four unanswered tallies as the 10th-ranked Manhattanville women's hockey team defeated UMass Boston, 5-1, in the Valiants' 2010-11 season opener on Friday night at Playland Ice Casino.

Three other Valiants chipped in goals to help the team get its first victory of the season, as sophomores Mary Rose Morrison (Ridgefield, Conn.) and Jessica Kehoe (Kemptville, Ont.) along with junior assistant captain Hannah Muskego (Neilburg, Sask.) scored for the Valiants. As a team, Manhattanville outshot the Beacons, 39-17.

Although the Valiants held a 13-4 advantage in shots in the first period, neither team could find the net and the teams went into the first intermission scoreless. That lasted until the 5:33 mark of the second frame, when freshman Tori Pizzuto (Waterbury, Conn.) fired a shot high off the glass that deflected right to Kehoe, who was able to stuff it under the pads of UMB netminder Leah Hallett for her first of the season.

The Beacons answered back 1:16 later with a score from Lauren Duran, who fired a shot from the blue line that sophomore goalie Emy Cote (Saint-Hubert, Que.) stopped but could not control, allowing Duran to get her own rebound and score at 6:49 of the period.  

The Valiants took the lead for good later in the frame, as Little needed just 27 seconds of power-play time to hit the back of the net for the first time this year. Senior Erica Garcia (Highland, Calif.) and sophomore Erin Sidjak (Delta, B.C.) added assists with 2:26 remaining in the period, as some nice passing allowed Little to get open and record the eighth power-play goal of her career. 

Much as they did in the first period, Manhattanville dominated the final frame, but this time put up three goals to put the game away. Little netted her second goal of the night just 11 seconds into the period off a defensive giveaway, and Morrison added an insurance tally from senior assistant captain Jess Scioli (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) at 4:47 to give the Valiants a 4-1 lead.

With less than five minutes remaining in the contest, Muskego got in on the scoring, as the blueliner blasted a shot from the point that went through traffic in front for the first goal of her collegiate career. 

Hallett finished the contest with 34 saves after allowing all five goals. Cote picked up her first win of the year for the Valiants by making 16 saves. 

The Manhattanville special teams units also looked good to start the year, as the team recorded a pair of power-play goals and held UMass Boston scoreless on five man-up chances.

Manhattanville (1-0-0, 1-0-0 ECAC East) will be back on the ice tomorrow night as the Valiants host Saint Anselm College in an ECAC East Conference match at 7 p.m. from Playland Ice Casino, with live stats and live video from GoValiants.com available. UMass Boston (0-1-0, 0-1-0 ECAC East) will head to Nichols College tomorrow for a 7:40 p.m. start.