Boxscore

PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville women's soccer team held a 1-0 lead with 12 minutes remaining in the match, but two Farmingdale State College goals 3:16 apart late in the second half allowed the visitors to escape GoValiants.com Field with a 2-1 non-conference victory over the host Valiants on a wild and windy Wednesday evening.

Despite being on their heels for much of the second half, the Valiants went against the grain of play to score the first tally of the game on a strike by senior Holly Nonis (Brampton, Ontario) in the 58th minute. Junior Natalie Green (Vernon, Conn.) played a nice ball from the midfield through to the senior, who barely tapped the ball past Farmingdale sophomore keeper Stacey Rao and slotted it into the empty net for her first of the year.

For Nonis, the goal gave her 33 tallies for her career and moved her into a tie for fourth place on Manhattanville's all-time scoring list, placing her alongside Robin Marrella '86.

At that point, the score belied what was seen on the field, as Farmingdale State kept the ball in the offensive zone and put pressure on the Valiant back line. That pressure increased exponentially after Nonis' goal, as the Rams fired 11 shots in the final 26 minutes in an attempt to regain control.

Manhattanville did a good job at repelling the Ram advances until the 79th minute, when sophomore Christina Merrill earned a corner kick and bent a perfectly placed kick inside the six-yard box to the waiting head of classmate Jillian Lasota. Lasota one-touched the ball into the back of the net for her first of the year, which tied the match at one.

Farmingdale State did not let up, however, coming back just over three minutes later to score again and put the Valiants behind for the first time. Junior Katrina Cerverizzo started the play with a ball forward to classmate Rebecca Richman, who went one on one with Valiant senior keeper Ali Bromson (Suffield, Conn.) and chipped the ball into the cage for the eventual game-winner.

Farmingdale State held the advantage for much of the night against Manhattanville, including a decisive 19-3 edge in total shots and a 7-3 lead in shots on goal. Bromson kept the Rams off the scoreboard for most of the game by making five saves, including a diving stop on sophomore Melissia Elie in the 72nd minute that temporarily kept the home team up by a goal. Rao made one save and allowed one goal in the second half to earn the win for the Rams, entering in relief of junior Amanda Maass, who stopped the only shot she faced in the first 45 minutes of play.

Manhattanville (0-3, 0-0 Freedom) will remain at home this weekend, as the Valiants host Vassar College, Eastern Connecticut State University and Montclair State University for the 2010 Valiant Classic on Saturday and Sunday. The Valiants and Brewers kick off the weekend on Saturday at noon, with the game also video streamed live online at GoValiants.TV. Farmingdale State (4-0, 0-0 Skyline) will take on Gettysburg College at the William Smith Tournament on Saturday at 2 p.m.