Boxscore

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Muhlenberg College jumped out to a 14-4 lead after 30 minutes of play and the deficit proved to be too much to overcome as the Manhattanville women's lacrosse team dropped its first game of 2011 by a 17-10 score to the Mules in a non-conference contest on Wednesday afternoon at Scotty Wood Stadium.

Freshman Casandra Honovich (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) had a nice first collegiate outing for Manhattanville, as the attacker led the team and tied for the game-high with four goals. Senior Jen Ascencio (Monroe, N.Y./Millbrook School) and sophomore Melissa Goncalves (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East) both had two goals apiece for the Valiants as well on the afternoon.

Muhlenberg's Danielle Rosen led all scorers with eight points on four goals and four assists, while Angela Napoletano and Molly Davin had three goals each for the home team.

The season – and the game – got off to a nice start for Manhattanville, as Honovich netted the first goal of her collegiate career 1:54 into the contest to give the visitors an early one-goal edge. After two goals in 13 seconds put the Mules ahead by one, Goncalves got the game back to even at the 4:08 mark with an unassisted tally.

However, the Valiants' lack of offensive opportunities started to hurt them as the half wore on, as Muhlenberg registered 12 of the frame's final 14 scores to break open the contest and take a 14-4 edge into the break. Rosen had four goals and two assists during the run to pace both sides, while Manhattanville managed just a pair of scores from Ascencio.

After 30 minutes, Manhattanville had a great shooting percentage – all four of the team's shots on goal found the back of the net – but Muhlenberg held a 25-5 edge in total shots and had 14 of its 17 on-target attempts score as well. Senior keeper Kirstin Betsill (Parkton, Md./Hereford) made three saves for the visitors in the opening half.

In the second half, the goals started to come for Manhattanville and the defense tightened up considerably, but the visitors could not produce enough offense to get within striking distance before the final horn.

Honovich opened the second half just as she did the first with a tally at the 3:48 mark of the second stanza to get the Valiants within nine at 14-5. After two Muhlenberg scores, the visitors made things a little more interesting with three consecutive tallies, as sophomore Agbogo Kalu (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont) tallied her first of the year and then Honovich came back with back-to-back goals that made it an eight-goal deficit (16-8) with 7:23 remaining.

The visitors got to within seven on a pair of occasions on goals by senior Darby Webber (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) and Goncalves, but Manhattanville could get no closer.

In addition to the offense, another bright spot in the second half was the play of junior goaltender Carolyn Levine (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford), who made three saves on six shots in the final 30 minutes of play. The Valiants as a team posted a 13-9 edge in shots and outscored the Mules by three in the second stanza.

Manhattanville (0-1, 0-0 MAC) will return to action on Tuesday afternoon, as the Valiants travel to Saratoga Springs to take on Skidmore College in a non-conference matchup starting at 4:30 p.m. Muhlenberg (1-0, 0-0 Centennial) will travel south to take on fellow MAC member Misericordia University in Hilton Head, S.C. on Sunday.