PURCHASE, N.Y. – For the first time under fourth-year head coach
Kevin Kelly the Manhattanville field hockey team has qualified for the Freedom Conference Championship. The team finished the regular season with a 11-7 record with a 4-3 record in Freedom Conference play, which gives the Valiants the fourth seed in the championship.
The Valiants will travel on the road to take on FDU-Florham on Wednesday, November 2 with the game time set for 7:00 p.m. If planning to attend the contest, tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $2 for students and free for children under the age of six. If you can't make it to Madison, N.J., live stats courtesy of the FDU-Florham sports information department are available HERE.
Manhattanville started out the season winning eight of their first nine of the season which includes their first two conference games of the year. During that stretch the Manhattanville offense outscored their opponents by a 34-14 margin led by newcomer Amanda DeChent (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley), junior Kayla Meenan (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) and sophomore Megan Greene (Jamestown, R.I./North Kingstown).
During the second half of the year sophomore Alyssa Tourdot (Blue Bell, Pa./Wissahickon) added to the offensive output including three goals in a crucial 4-3 conference win against Wilkes University on October 22. Senior Alyssa Coughlan (Rye, N.Y./Rye) had a productive season as well with three goals and finishing second on the team with six assists.
The defense also played well throughout the season led by junior Melissa Goncalves (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East) and sophomore Chelsea Klein (Reading, Pa./Exeter) who played and started in all 18 games this season. Senior Colleen Macedo (Norwalk, Conn./Brien McMahon), junior Sarah Mason (Glens Falls, N.Y./Glens Falls) and sophomore Meg Wittner (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) also started in the majority of Manhattanville's games during 2011.
In goal for the Valiants, sophomore Amy Hilton (Pittsburgh, Pa./Kents Hill (Maine)) has played every minute this season collecting her 11-7 record while making 90 saves and allowing 45 goals for a 2.50 goals against average. The team has helped out Hilton by collecting a conference-leading 11 defensive saves.
FDU-Florham (11-8, 6-1 Freedom) is the No. 1 seed in the tournament and are entering on a three-game winning streak including the season finale last week in Purchase against Manhattanville. In the 4-1 victory, FDU-Florham had goals scored by Lauren Guenther, Marybeth Weimer, Megan Springmeyer and Niki Ikeda.
Springmeyer leads the Valiants with nine goals and 20 points, followed by Guenther with six goals and five assists. and Kelsey Kistle with six goals and two assists. As a team the Devils have eight multi-goal scorers this season. In goal for the Devils is Tess Loughran, who started in 18 of the 19 games this season allowing 32 goals while turning aside 108 shots on goal.
All-time the Valiants are 5-7-0 against FDU-Florham including this season's loss eight days ago. The Valiants are looking to make their second appearance in the Freedom Conference Championship game, with the last coming in 2005 when the Valiants won their first and only Freedom Conference title and made the NCAA Tournament. The winner of this game will take on either Eastern or King's (Pa.) this Saturday at the highest remaining seed.
