Box Score Boxscore
EDWARDSVILLE, Pa. – The Manhattanville field hockey team clinched its first Freedom Conference Championship berth since 2005 after defeating Wilkes on Saturday afternoon by a score of 4-3. Sophomore
Alyssa Tourdot (Blue Bell, Pa./Wissahickon) had three goals for the visitors, including the game-winner with less than three minutes remaining.
Wilkes opened the scoring at the 5:48 mark to take the early 1-0 lead, a lead the Colonels held for 12 minutes before Tourdot notched her first of the afternoon. Tourdot took a shot that was initially saved by Wilkes goalkeeper Lindsey Davenport, but the rebound deflected back to Tourdot who was able to tip it in to tie the game.
Tourdot struck again 2:13 later when she shot the ball off of another rebound for her second of the afternoon. Wilkes evened the game at the 21:24 mark, and then took the lead with under three to go on a penalty stroke goal to take a 3-2 lead into the break.
After halftime sophomore Amanda DeChent (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) got on the scorecard and evened the game for the third time on the afternoon when she tipped in a rebound off of the initial shot by senior Alyssa Coughlan (Rye, N.Y./Rye).
The next 26:34 turned out to be a series of saves by both goalkeepers as Manhattanville sophomore goalkeeper Amy Hilton (Pittsburgh, Pa./Kents Hill (Maine)) made three saves and her counterpart Davenport made six. As time continued to wind off the clock, Tourdot reached the back of the net for the third time with 2:48 to go.
The Colonels had four late opportunities on penalty corners with no success, and during the last corner the Valiants committed a late foul that resulted in a penalty stroke for Wilkes' Lauren Ritchey that was stopped by Hilton to secure the win and send the Valiants to the Freedom Conference postseason.
In the game Hilton made a season-high 10 saves while collecting her 11th win of the season. Davenport made eight saves for the Colonels while taking the loss. Each side registered a defensive save as well with sophomore Meg Wittner (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) collecting one for Manhattanville.
In terms of shots, Wilkes had a three-shot advantage with a 20-17 total. Shots on goal were also close with Wilkes on target 14 times to the Valiants' 13 times. Penalty corners were well in favor of the Colonels at 28-16.
Manhattanville (11-5, 4-2 Freedom) will return to action on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. when they host FDU-Florham in a Senior Night battle that could determine home-field advantage in the Freedom Conference Championships. Wilkes (3-10, 2-4 Freedom) was eliminated from playoff contention with their loss this afternoon, but will look to get back in the win column when they host Misericordia on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.
