Box Score MANSFIELD, Conn. – The Manhattanville field hockey team behind the strength of three goals from junior Amanda DeChent (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) worked their way past the Eastern Connecticut State Warriors on Wednesday evening by the score of 6-1.
 
The Valiants got off to a slow start on the night as the Warriors possessed the ball through the first 13 minutes of the contest as they took four shots as well as four penalty corners to start off the game. Manhattanville then took control of the next ten minutes of action that began with a penalty corner at the 14:02 mark.
 
With possession the Valiants registered their first shot of the night off the stick of DeChent in the 20th minute of play. After a corner taken by senior Lindsey Stebenne (Barrington, R.I./Barrington) was received by junior Julia Esposito (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich), the ball found its way to the back of the goal to give Manhattanville the early 1-0 lead. Just 17 seconds later the Valiants tallied their second goal as DeChent picked up her first goal of the evening.
 
Eastern Connecticut called a timeout after the second goal, and was able to draw up a play that resulted in a shot that went wide of the cage occupied by freshman goalkeeper Courtney Ponte (Johnstown, N.Y./Johnstown). Manhattanville then stormed back down the field and senior Kayla Meenan (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) picked up her first shot of the night that was saved by Olivia Mullen. Both teams then went into a series that saw shots exchanged at both ends of the field over the course of several minutes.
 
Meenan was next to score for the Valiants as the senior picked up her second goal of the season, and 33rd of her career. The 33rd tally ties her for second on the all-time goals list with Kristen Coffey '03, and Cheryl Zicko '89. She also continues to work her way up the all-time points list as she now has 86 for her Valiant career as she pushes her way towards second place, currently occupied by Alissa Tyghter '06 with 91 points.
 
After the Meenan tally, Manhattanville banged home one more goal as DeChent picked up her second of the evening after receiving a pass from freshman Breanna O'Neill (Hazlet, N.J./Mater Dei Prep). For DeChent it was her 12th goal of the season, and for O'Neill it was her first collegiate point as the teams headed into halftime.
 
With halftime behind them the Valiants picked up another goal out of the break as DeChent scored her 13th goal of the year with sophomore Sydney Asselstine (Hartington, Ontario/Sydenham) picking up her first point of the season on the helper. With the marker DeChent is now alone in second place nationally amongst goal scorers as she trails Smith's Allie Stein, who has 15 goals on the year.
 
As play crossed into the 51st minute the shutout streak was snapped as Eastern Connecticut got on the board with what proved to be their only goal of the night to trim the lead back down to 5-1.
 
Fifteen minutes later senior Rebecca McClintock (Accord, N.Y./Rondout Valley) picked up her second goal of the season and also her second career goal as she took a pass from classmate Melissa Goncalves (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East) and sent it past Mullen to put the Valiants up by five with just over four minutes remaining in regulation.
 
A few moments later the final horn sounded and the Valiants came away with a 6-1 win. In the game Manhattanville outshot their hosts by a 15-12 margin, with shots on goal also in favor of the Valiants at 12-7. In regards to penalty corners the teams each took five a piece.
 
In goal, Ponte picked up her first collegiate victory while making six saves on the night and allowing the lone Warrior goal. While on the opposite end of the field Mullen allowed six goals and made six saves while falling to 2-4 on the season.
 
As winners of five of their last contests Manhattanville (5-3) will open up Freedom Conference play with plenty of momentum this Saturday when they host the King's Monarchs at 12:00 p.m. with coverage of the game available on GoValiants.TV. Eastern Connecticut (2-4, 0-2 Little East) will return to conference play when they take on Framingham State at home at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday.