PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville women's lacrosse team earned a berth in the Freedom Conference Tournament for the second straight season and will look for an upset in the first round as the fourth-seeded Valiants travel to top-seeded FDU-Florham for the Freedom Conference semifinals, which are scheduled for Tuesday afternoon beginning at 4 p.m.
 
Manhattanville (4-12, 3-3 Freedom) and FDU-Florham (10-7, 6-0 Freedom) will face off in one semifinal on Tuesday afternoon, while the other semifinal pits second-seeded Arcadia (13-4, 5-1 Freedom) and third-seeded Wilkes (10-3, 4-2 Freedom). The two winners will face off on Saturday at the highest remaining seed for the Freedom Conference championship.
 
The Valiants are making their third appearance in the postseason as a member of the Middle Atlantic/Freedom Conference, and strangely enough FDU-Florham will continue to be the only team they have ever played over that span. The Devils defeated Manhattanville, 21-6, in the 2009 MAC quarterfinals and also earned a 17-8 victory over the Valiants in the inaugural Freedom Conference semifinals last season.
 
The two teams met once during the regular season this year, with the Devils pulling out an 18-11 win just last Tuesday in Madison. Katie Rolwood led all scorers with five goals and three assists in the win for FDU, while Manhattanville was led by senior Melissa Goncalves (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East) with a team-high seven points (four goals, three assists) and junior Casandra Honovich (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) with four goals and one helper.
 
Offensively, Manhattanville will rely heavily on Honovich and Goncalves, who are the top scoring tandem in the Freedom Conference this year. Honovich ranks second in the conference in both goals and points, scoring a school single-season record 74 goals during the regular season and adding 11 assists for 85 points. Goncalves leads the conference in assists with a career-best 29 so far this year, and also has added 50 goals for 79 points that ranks her third in the Freedom.
 
Both players are approaching career milestones entering the postseason as well. Honovich needs just one goal to become only the third player in program history to reach 200 career goals and two to take over second place all-time in goals at the school, while also needing five points to past Liz McNamee '03 for the program's single-season points mark. Goncalves needs three assists to set a new school single-season record at the school, while she also sits only four points away from a top-three spot on the single-season list.
 
But for Manhattanville to win on Tuesday, they will need offense from other sources as well. Senior Maggie Howley (Philadelphia, Pa./Cardinal Dougherty) enters the game third on the team in scoring with 30 points on 17 goals and 13 assists, followed close behind by junior Brooke Marcimo (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) with 23 points (15 goals, eight assists) and sophomore Mallory Bakst (Morganville, N.J./Marlboro) with 22 points (16 goals, six assists).
 
The experienced Manhattanville defensive unit, which includes seniors Kelly Murray (Shrub Oak, N.Y./Lakeland), Alex Pomato (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) and Erin Saporetti (Ashland, Mass./Ashland) as well as sophomore Kelli-Ann Paterwic (West Springfield, Mass./Cathedral), will also look to play well in front of freshman netminder Caitlin Sosa (New York, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury), who is 3-6 with a 17.26 goals against average and a .320 save percentage this season.
 
FDU-Florham is led offensively by Rolwood, who leads the Freedom Conference in both goals and points this year with 79 tallies and 17 assists for 96 points.  The senior has set new program single-season records in both goals and points as well as in draw controls, as she ranks second in the conference with 89.
 
In addition, Courtney Rendinaro ranks second on the team with 42 goals and has a team-leading 21 assists for 63 points, followed by Sara Slicklen (29 goals, four assists) and Ashley Schlindwein (23 goals, four assists).
 
In goal for the Devils, Grace Warburton has started all 17 games this season and has posted a 12.55 goals against average and .465 save percentage to go with a 10-6 record.
 
For fans planning on attending the game, admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $2 for students (with valid student ID) and free for children under six. If fans cannot make it to Madison for the game, FDU-Florham will be providing live stats and live video for the game, while Manhattanville will also provide live in-game commentary via its Twitter feed.