Box Score Boxscore
RYE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville Valiants women's hockey team dropped their 2011-12 home opener to the Holy Cross Crusaders on Friday evening by the score of 6-2. With the loss the Valiants' record drops to 1-4 overall while they are 1-2 in ECAC East Conference action.
For only the second time on the young season the Valiants were the first to put a tally on the board 16:56 into the opening stanza when junior Kelly Keane (Longmeadow, Mass./New England Falcons (EJHL)) scored her second of the season off an assist from sophomore defender Mallory Watts (Bloomfield, Mich./Honeybaked (MWEHL)) who sent a great centering pass to her teammate to give the Valiants the early 1-0 lead.
However, the lead didn't last long when less than two minutes later Chelsea Miller lifted one over Manhattanville sophomore goalkeeper Emy Cote (Saint-Hubert, Quebec/Dawson College) to even the score at one heading into the first intermission.
With the momentum of the late first period goal, Holy Cross came out looking to continue their offensive attack. At 3:41 into the second period Keane took a tripping penalty that the Crusaders capitalized on the opportunity and gave the road team a 2-1 lead.
Holy Cross continued to pile on the goals scoring twice more in the second frame and took a 4-1 lead into the final period.
In the third the Valiants yielded yet another goal this time to Francesca Panarelli, she finished the game with a goal and a pair of assists on the night. Ten seconds later the Crusaders quickly won the faceoff and scored almost instantaneously to balloon their lead up to 6-1.
Manhattanville continued to fight despite the five-goal disadvantage and outshot their guests 15-3 over the next 13 minutes of action. On their 15th shot the Valiants finally broke through on a goal by sophomore Haleigh Hutchinson (Allen Park, Mich./Honeybaked (TOEHL)) with an assist being credited to junior Sonia Occhionero (Montreal, Quebec/Kent School (Conn.)).
The remaining 2:48 came off the clock with the Valiants collecting four more shots with no luck. Time then expired and the Valiants had lost their second straight and fourth of the season.
Despite the differential of goals on the scoreboard, Manhattanville still managed to take 30 shots compared to their opponents 22. While face-offs were also in favor of the crimson and white as they went 36-for-58 from the dot. Leading the way once again on the draws was junior Lynsey Schill (Waterloo, Ontario/Kitchener Rangers (PWHL)) who went 16-for-24 individually.
In goal, Cote made 16 saves in the frustrating loss as she falls to 1-3 on the year. Collecting the win was freshman netminder Alexandra Stevenson for Holy Cross as she stoned 28 shots, including 11 in the second period, her record improves to 2-0.
Manhattanville (1-4, 1-2 ECAC East) will be right back in action tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. when they play host to Salve Regina. Holy Cross (5-0, 4-0 ECAC East) will also skate again tomorrow when they return home to take on Nichols for a 3:00 p.m. game.
