WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Manhattanville field hockey team scored six times in the second half to break open a close game and earn a commanding 9-4 victory over Wilkes in the Valiants' 2013 Freedom Conference opener on Saturday afternoon. 

Senior Amanda DeChent (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) led Manhattanville to the win by scoring five times, including four goals in the decisive second stanza.  Sophomore Breanna O'Neill (Hazlet, N.J./Mater Dei Prep) and senior Kirsten Savage (Harrington Park, N.J./Old Tappan) helped the Valiants to victory, scoring two goals apiece as well.

The scoring started in early in this match as Wilkes junior Aliya Frankel scored off an assist from senior Ashley Hahn just 1:49 into the match.  It didn't take long for the Valiants to even the score as DeChent, acting quickly on a pass from Savage, put the ball past sophomore goalkeeper Alexis Reed to tie the game 1-1 at the 5:45 mark. 

The back and forth scoring continued as Wilkes would go up 2-1 at the 12:45 mark, but again the Valiants didn't wait long to even the score as Savage tipped in a shot from freshman Bregje Smits (Bussum, Netherlands/Willen de Zwigger College) on a penalty corner less than a minute later.  The first half ended in a 3-3 tie as the teams tranded goals again, with Frankel giving the Colonels another one-goal lead only to have O'Neill follow with an unassisted tally off a rebound.

The second half was nowhere near as close as the first, as the Valiants took command of the contest thanks to a 6-1 goal differential and a 17-3 edge in shots. 

DeChent took complete control to start the half, scoring two goals just a minute apart at 36:57 and 37:57, respectively to make it 5-3 Valiants less than three minutes into the frame.  Savage followed up with her second goal of the match at 39:51 and there was no looking back from there. 

Although Taylor Ryan scored her second goal of the match for the Colonels, the Valiants squashed any hopes of a comeback as DeChent tallied two more goals and O'Neill got her second of the game to make the score 9-4 with just over one minute remaining in the contest. 

Senior goalkeeper Amy Hilton (Pittsburgh, Pa./Kents Hill (Maine)) had a solid performance in net, turning away 10 of 14 shots that came her way, and also received some help from sophomore Renee LaFosse (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack) with two defensive saves. For the day, Manhattanville boasted a 25-16 edge in shots.

The win improves the Valiants to 7-4 on the season and gives them a 1-0 record in the Freedom Conference. The Valiants will resume action on Tuesday as they will take on current NFHCA #11 College of New Jersey at GoValiants.com Field at 7:00 p.m.