PURCHASE, N.Y. – After a two-year absence, the Manhattanville women's lacrosse team returns to the postseason and looks to make its mark in the inaugural Freedom Conference Women's Lacrosse Tournament, as the fourth-seeded Valiants will travel to top-seeded FDU-Florham for the Freedom Conference semifinals on Wednesday night beginning at 7 p.m.
 
In addition to Manhattanville (4-12, 3-3 Freedom) and FDU-Florham (11-6, 6-0 Freedom), second-seeded Eastern (6-9, 4-2 Freedom) and third-seeded King's (10-7, 4-2 Freedom) will meet in the other Freedom Conference semifinal on Wednesday afternoon. The winners of the two games will meet in the first-ever Freedom Conference championship game on Saturday at the home of the highest remaining seed.
 
Manhattanville was the last team to punch its ticket to the postseason, doing so with a convincing 22-10 win over Wilkes on Saturday at GoValiants.com Field. Ten different players scored in the win, led by sophomore Casandra Honovich (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) with a game-high five goals and seven points, and freshman Ashley Hess (Mountain Top, Pa./Wyoming Seminary), who had three goals and four assists.
 
The Valiants and Devils met once during the regular season, with FDU-Florham escaping Purchase with an 18-13 victory last Tuesday. The home team slowed down the pace for much of the first half and held a 3-1 lead with 13:23 to go in the half, but a 5-0 FDU run to end the half put the visitors in front and they never relinquished that least the rest of the way. Junior Melissa Goncalves (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East) had a team-best six points in the losing effort, scoring twice and assisting on four, while Honovich and junior Maggie Howley (Philadelphia, Pa./Cardinal Dougherty) had four goals apiece.
 
Honovich is one of the most dangerous attackers in the Freedom Conference, currently ranking second among Freedom players with a career-high 64 goals, a mark that leaves her just three away from tying the school single-season record of 67 set by Liz McNamee '03 in 2002. She also has added a career-best 11 assists for 75 points this year, ranking her fifth in the conference and sixth on the school's single-season list.
 
Howley has emerged as an effective weapon on the offensive end as well in her first year with the team, ranking second among Valiants with 38 goals and 49 points so far this season. In addition, she has become one of the team's best possession attackers, as she leads the team and ranks second on the school's single-season list with 57 draw controls while also picking up 33 ground balls.
 
Goncalves has continued her role as a potent goal scorer and playmaker for Manhattanville as a junior, leading the team with 19 assists and chipping in 28 goals for 47 points. The midfielder also leads the team with 39 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers this year as one of the squad's top two-way players.
 
The Manhattanville defense has been a solid unit all season long, led by seniors Ashley DeMarco (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) and Danielle Scicutella (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) as well as juniors Alex Pomato (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) and Erin Saporetti (Ashland, Mass./Ashland). In goal for the Valiants, junior Emy Cote (Saint-Hubert, Quebec/Dawson College) has started seven of her nine appearances, posting a 3-6 record with a 16.86 goals against average while ranking second in the Freedom Conference in saves per game (9.11/gm).
 
FDU-Florham earned the top seed in the conference tournament and relies primarily on its top-two scorers, Breana Kilpatrick and Katie Rolwood. Kilpatrick ranks fifth in the conference with 59 goals, including a team-leading five in the victory over the Valiants earlier this year, and has added 15 assists for a team-high 74 points. Rolwood has 46 goals and 21 assists for 67 points on the year, ranking second on the team in all three categories.
 
In goal for the Devils, Patricia Samms has been the primary keeper this year, starting 13 of 17 games and posting a 9-4 record with an 11.53 GAA and .459 save percentage.
 
If you plan on attending the game, admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $2 for students (with valid student ID) and free for children under six. If fans cannot make it to Madison for the game, FDU-Florham will be providing live stats for the game, while Manhattanville will also provide live in-game commentary via its Twitter feed.