Boxscore

PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Valiant offense finally showed signs of life in the second half, but the Manhattanville women's soccer team was done in by some great goaltending and some near-miss opportunities in suffering a tough 1-0 defeat to Drew University in a non-conference matchup on a sunny Wednesday afternoon at GoValiants.com Field.

Today's defeat might be the hardest of them all to swallow for the Valiants so far this year, as Manhattanville took 18 total shots and put 10 on goal without finding the back of the net. Drew, meanwhile, took 14 shots (10 on target) and used one fortuitous bounce to sneak past the home team.

In the 16th minute, freshman Elizabeth Loiodice fired a shot from the side of the 18-yard box that senior keeper Ali Bromson (Suffield, Conn.) dove to her right to get a hand on, but Bromson could not keep the ball in front of her. As a result, sophomore Michelle Malone was allowed to sneak behind the goalie and tap the ball into an open net for the first – and ultimately only – goal of the afternoon.

Not that the Valiants didn't do their best to change that. The Valiants took 12 total shots in the final 45 minutes, and in the process forced the Drew keepers to make multiple acrobatic saves in order to keep the home team off the scoreboard.

Two minutes into the second half, senior Holly Nonis (Brampton, Ontario) took a cross from junior Natalie Green (Vernon, Conn.) and directed a perfect header toward the near post, but Drew sophomore keeper Kim Jaikisson barely got a finger on the ball to keep it from the back of the net.

Nonis had another great chance in the 67th minute, when she fired a ball that seemed ticketed to the near corner, but once again a Drew goalie – this time junior Dana De Barros, who came in as injury replacement for Jaikisson – made a lunging save to her right to deny Nonis and the Valiants a second time.

Nonis was everywhere on the field for Manhattanville on the afternoon, as her 10 total shots nearly matched the entire Drew team. Sophomore Morgan Rebollal (Holtsville, N.Y.) also had a couple stellar chances for Manhattanville late and finished with four shots, as the Valiants as a team kept Drew on its heels for almost the entire second half.

Despite the promising attacks, the Drew tandem of Jaikisson and De Barros combined for the shutout by making 10 saves, with Jaikisson stopping seven balls in 60:15 of play before De Barros came on to stop three shots in the final 29:45. For Manhattanville, Bromson kept the Valiants within striking distance by making nine saves on 10 shots on goal.

Manhattanville (0-8-0) will have its final non-conference tune-up before the start of Freedom Conference play next Wednesday, as the Valiants travel to SUNY New Paltz for a 4 p.m. start. Drew (4-3-0) begins Landmark Conference play on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Moravian College.