Boxscore

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Manhattanville women's lacrosse team hit a stumbling block on the road to the postseason Tuesday afternoon, as the Valiants suffered a tough 12-11 loss to King's (Pa.) College in a Middle Atlantic Conference contest at McCarthy Stadium.

The loss was a blow to the Valiants' playoff hopes, as Manhattanville (7-7, 6-5 MAC) falls into a three-way tie for fifth place with Lebanon Valley and Eastern. Despite the defeat, a win in the team's regular-season finale on Saturday at home against LVC will still earn the Valiants a trip to the MAC Tournament as the fifth or sixth seed.

Freshman Casandra Honovich (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) led all scorers with five goals on the afternoon, giving her a team-leading 53 on the year, and with her first goal broke a tie with Abbe Grimes '09 (48 in 2006) for first on the school's all-time rookie goals list. Senior Emelda Ogweta (Portland, Maine/Kents Hill) was the only other Valiant to score more than once with a pair of goals, while both senior Darby Webber (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) and sophomore Melissa Goncalves (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East) had a goal and two assists.

King's was led by the play of Chelsea Manes, who led all players with six points on three goals and a game-high three assists, and Krystina Villarreal, who had three goals and a pair of helpers for the home team.

Manhattanville seemed to be in control of the game for much of the first half despite being outshot, 24-13, as some good shooting and more great play from senior keeper Kirstin Betsill (Parkton, Md./Hereford) combined to keep the Valiants ahead. After Villarreal opened the scoring 48 seconds in, Manhattanville scored the next three goals and eight of the next 10 to build up a five-goal lead, 8-3, with 10:43 left in the half.

After the teams traded goals to make the score 9-4 in favor of the Valiants, King's went on a 4-0 to close the half and get within one (9-8) after 30 minutes of play.

Despite the shot advantage that the Monarchs had in the opening half, Manhattanville still managed to come out with a lead thanks to nine saves from Betsill. Nevertheless, the home team was allowed to gain some much-needed momentum headed into the second half.

Both goaltenders were on their games in the final frame, combining for 17 saves and allowing just six goals. Unfortunately for Manhattanville, however, four of those goals came from the crosses of King's players.

Despite the lack of scoring, Manhattanville still looked to be in good shape late in the frame after Honovich scored her fifth of the game to put the visitors up, 11-9, with 5:14 left. But the Valiants lost the next three draw controls, all of which resulted in Monarch goals – the last of which came from Amanda Harney that suddenly put the Valiants down by a goal with 1:06 remaining.

After losing the ensuing draw again, Manhattanville forced two turnovers that resulted in great chances on the King's net, but Monarch goalie Megan Withrow was up the task on both occasions and allowed her team to emerge with the win

Withrow made eight saves to earn the win, while Betsill turned aside 19 shots in a losing effort.

The Valiants will have one more game before the postseason-deciding showdown on Saturday, as Manhattanville will make the trip up to Saratoga Springs tomorrow night to take on Skidmore College in the team's non-conference finale starting at 7 p.m. King's (6-8, 4-7 MAC) will conclude its season on Saturday against Messiah College.