Box Score DALLAS, Pa. – The Manhattanville women's soccer team went into halftime down by just a goal, but Misericordia, ranked 10th in the latest NSCAA national poll and 18th in this week's D3soccer.com national poll, scored four times in the second half to take a 5-0 victory over the Valiants in a Freedom Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon.

The Valiants had trouble generating quality scoring opportunities against a very good Misericordia squad. Meanwhile, Megan Lannigan led the Cougars with two goals, while three other Cougar players scored as well in the victory.

The first shot of the match came just 75 seconds into the contest off the foot of sophomore Christie DeMarco (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley Stream South), and both teams had their changes over the first 30 scoreless minutes. The Cougars scored the first goal of the match in the 32nd minute, when Megan Mahoney put a ball into the box for Lannigan to put away.

But that was all that the Valiant defense would allow over the first 45 minutes, as the visitors held firm against a difficult Cougar attack. Misericordia posted a 12-5 edge in total shots in the first half, but freshman Dolores Diemicke (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) had five saves to keep it a 1-0 game.

But the relentless Misericordia pressure continued in the second half and eventually wore down the Valiant back line, as the Cougars put four more in the back of the net. Lannigan struck again in the 59th minute for her second of the game, and the home team added three more to put the match away.

Misericordia finished the game with a 32-7 edge in shots. Diemicke allowed three goals and made eight saves in 68:59 of action, followed by sophomore Grace Kraemer (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa), who turned aside four shots and allowed two goals in 21:01 of action. The Cougars' Maureen Ciccosanti made two saves in 80:16 to earn the win.

Manhattanville will return to action on Tuesday night, as the Valiants host Eastern in a key Freedom Conference matchup under the lights of GoValiants.com Field beginning at 7 p.m.