Box Score PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville women's lacrosse team dropped its 2013 season-opener by a 22-9 score to Division II Saint Thomas Aquinas in a non-conference matchup on a cold and damp Wednesday afternoon at GoValiants.com Field.
 
Genevieve Stickney and Margaret Sharp led the Spartan attack with eight points apiece, as both players scored seven times and added an assist. Samantha Lowney added four goals and Johanna Mitchell chipped in six assists in the win.
 
Junior Casandra Honovich (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) paced the Valiants with five goals, followed by senior Melissa Goncalves (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East) with three goals and an assist and junior Brooke Marcimo (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) with one tally and one helper. Despite the loss, Honovich moved into sixth place on the school's career goals list (130) with her five tallies, while Goncalves moved up to fifth in career assists (43) and seventh in points (161) as a Valiant in a losing effort.
 
The first half was for the most part evenly contested, with the Spartans taking a 13-7 lead into the break. The teams converted every chance they had to start off the game, as the first nine possessions of the afternoon resulted in scores. With STAC leading by a 5-4 score, Manhattanville went up two players thanks to a pair of Spartan yellow cards, and Honovich capitalized with a man-up goal to even the score at five with 18:04 left in the first half.
 
But a man-down goal by Stickney started a string of four straight Aquinas goals and an 8-2 run to conclude the half that gave the visitors the edge at the break.
 
The Valiant offense was very efficient in the first half despite limited chances, controlling eight draws and scoring seven times in eight shots on goal. The Spartans had a 19-12 edge in total shots after 30 minutes.
 
In the second half, the Manhattanville attack simply did not get enough opportunities to score, and as a result Saint Thomas Aquinas scored the first nine goals of the frame to blow open the game. Goncalves and Honovich scored in the final 5:03 for the home team, but it was too little too late.
 
For the game, STAC posted a 37-19 edge in shots. Playing her first collegiate game in goal, freshman Caitlin Sosa (New York, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) made five saves for the Valiants, while Spartan netminder Kaitlyn Lonergan turned aside six shots to earn the win.
 
Manhattanville (0-1) will play its first road game of the season on Saturday, as the Valiants travel to Massachusetts to take on Western New England in a non-conference matchup beginning at 1 p.m.