Box Score PURCHASE, N.Y. – Sophomore Carolina Pelaez (Ossining, N.Y./Ossining) scored her first collegiate goal in the 61st minute to help the Manhattanville women's soccer team to a 1-1 (2OT) tie with DeSales in both teams' 2013 Freedom Conference opener on Saturday afternoon at GoValiants.com Field.
 
DeSales posted a 17-8 edge in total shots on the afternoon, but the combination of Pelaez's head and the good hands of freshman Dolores Diemicke (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) combined to give the Valiants a key point in their first conference outing of the season. Diemicke made nine saves in 110:00 minutes of action, allowing just one fluke tally to get past her.
 
The Bulldogs got on the board first with that lucky score in the 29th minute, as a shot from Jessica Wetherhold caromed off a Valiant defender and squirted past Diemicke into the far corner for her third goal of the year. DeSales posted an 8-1 shot advantage over the first 45 minutes, requiring Diemicke to make five saves to keep her squad in the match.
 
The Valiants, meanwhile, were silent offensively until the 61st minute, when a nice set piece resulted in the match-tying score. Sophomore Rebecca Breve (Tegucigalpa, Honduras/American School of Tegucigalpa) played a corner kick short to classmate Christie DeMarco (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley Stream South), and she served a beautiful ball to the back post where Pelaez headed it from a nearly impossible angle between two DSU defenders and the post for the first goal of her career.
 
Neither team was able to find the back of the net for the remainder of regulation and through the two overtime periods, as Diemicke made three mores saves while DeSales keeper Michelle Churchman turned aside a pair of on-target attempts to keep the score knotted at one.
 
Manhattanville will have the week off in preparation for perhaps its toughest test of the season, as the Valiants travel to #9/15 Misericordia for a Freedom Conference matchup next Saturday at 1 p.m. in Dallas, Pa.