Box Score Boxscore
PURCHASE, N.Y. – Manhattanville came so close on so many occasions, but the home team was unable to find the back of the net and Samantha Abravanel's second-half goal stood up as SUNY New Paltz escaped GoValiants.com Field with a 1-0 victory over the Valiants in non-conference women's soccer action on Wednesday afternoon.
Going up against the regionally ranked Hawks, Manhattanville created multiple great scoring chances and held the New Paltz offense mostly at bay throughout the contest. However, Abravanel was the only one to score 4:50 into the second half, when she took a cross from Beth Bowling that just eluded the hands of junior netminder Brianna Scapperotti (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) and tapped it into the net for her fifth of the year.
For the game, New Paltz held a 16-6 overall edge in shots and also took eight corner kicks to Manhattanville's one.
The first half featured some good scoring opportunities for both teams, but neither side could find the back of the net in the first 45 minutes of play. The two best chances came off the foot of Valiant junior forward Sonia Occhionero (Montreal, Quebec/Kent School), as she went one-on-one with the New Paltz keeper in the sixth minute and then had another great chance inside the penalty area a few minutes later. Both chances were saved by Hawks keeper Stephanie Vega, however, and the Valiants were kept off the scoreboard.
New Paltz had a few decent chances of its own during the first half, the best being a header from then penalty spot by Shannon Cobb that was grabbed just beneath the crossbar by Scapperotti.
At the half, New Paltz posted a slight 5-4 edge in total shots, with both Scapperotti and Vega recording a pair of saves.
New Paltz had the shot advantage in the second half, but both teams had their chances after Abravanel's score. But has been the case all season long for the Valiants, nothing could breach the opposition's goal line and the Valiants suffered the loss.
Scapperotti, making her first collegiate start in goal for the Valiants, made seven saves for the second straight appearance. Vega saved all three shots on goal that she faced on the afternoon.
Manhattanville (0-10-0) will begin the second half of the schedule on Saturday afternoon, as the Valiants host DeSales in the teams' Freedom Conference opener at GoValiants.com Field starting at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on GoValiants.TV beginning at 12:50 p.m. as the Valiants begin defense of their 2010 Freedom Conference championship. New Paltz (7-2-1) will travel to SUNY Geneseo on Friday at 4 p.m.
