Box Score PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville women's soccer team held a decided edge in possession and scoring chances, but that did not translate to the scoreboard as the Valiants dropped a tough 2-1 non-conference decision to Hendrix on Friday night at GoValiants.com Field.
The home team doubled the visiting Warriors' shot totals in both halves, finishing the evening with a 14-7 edge in chances. The battle for possession was even more starkly in favor of Manhattanville, but that possession did not result in quality scoring opportunities and allowed Hendrix to take advantage of a few good chances to sneak away with the win.
Despite Manhattanville holding a big edge in possession early on, it was Hendrix that struck first in the eighth minute of play. Samantha Lallas beat a defender on the far side of the field and dribbled along the far endline before putting the ball back toward the penalty spot, where Summerlin Criswell was there for the easy put away at the 7:45 mark.
The Valiants evened the score a few minutes later in the 12th minute, when senior
Brittney Smith (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) netted her team-leading third goal of the season. Sophomore
Erika Deetjen (West Windsor, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro South) took the ball from the midfield and fed a nice pass through to Smith, who tapped the ball past onrushing keeper Megan Childress and deposited it into an empty net for the game-tying tally.
The Warriors had another good chance against the run of play later in the half, when Mel Roach got even with the last defender before ringing the ball off the near post. But as a result of the near miss, the teams went into the half tied at one despite the Valiants' 8-4 edge in shots.
Sophomore keeper
Aubrey Bachand (Harwichport, Mass./Vermont Academy) kept the game tied in the 54th minute, when Lallas got loose down the right side and took a shot from the side of the box that required a nice diving stop.
But Hendrix got their second goal a few minutes later with 61:51 gone by, as Roach tallied her team-best eighth of the year. Criswell sent a ball to the top of the box for Sydney King and she slotted it through a pair of Valiant defenders to Roach, who roofed the ball just under the crossbar for the eventual game-winning score.
The Warriors did not record a shot the rest of the way, but the Valiants only were able to manage three attempts on goal themselves and none severely challenged Childress.
Childress improved to 2-1-0 on the year by making three saves for Hendrix, while Bachand suffered the loss in her first collegiate start despite making three saves for Manhattanville.
Manhattanville (2-4-0) will remain at home on Wednesday, as the Valiants host Drew under the GoValiants.com Field lights for a 7 p.m. matchup that will be video streamed live on GoValiants.TV beginning at 6:55 p.m.
