PURCHASE, N.Y.- Graduate student
Kirsten Savage (Harrington Park, N.J./Old Tappan) scored in her final home game on Saturday afternoon, helping the Valiants take down Freedom Conference foe Eastern by a final score of 4-3 on Senior Day.
Savage's final hoorah at GoValiants.com Field ended with an exhilarating win for Manhattanville (4-13, 1-5 Freedom). The Valiants picked up their first conference win of the season, beating Eastern (7-10, 2-4 Freedom) in a game that went down to the final buzzer.
Although the day was in honor of Savage, junior
Morgan Parsons (Bear, Del./William Penn) stole the spotlight, scoring two goals in the win for Manhattanville. Both goals from Parsons were delivered off penalty strokes, occurring nearly one minute after one another. Parsons scored the game's first goal in the 16th minute before collecting her second in the 17th minute, giving the Valiants an early 2-0 lead.
As the game digressed, it was evident that Eastern would not give up easily. The Eagles tallied their first goal of the game three minutes before halftime, as Megan Bolton beat freshman goalkeeper
Kaitlin Halloran (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown East) off a penalty corner, cutting the Valiants lead down to one at the half.
Manhattanville came out strong in the second half, firing from all cylinders in hopes of extending its lead. Savage scored her final goal at home in the 43rd minute, beating Eastern goalkeeper Jennifer O'Neill after a scrum in front of the net. Sophomore
Amanda Cirocco (Totowa, N.J./Passaic Valley) tallied the fourth and final goal for the Valiants in the 56th minute by also scoring on a scrum in the Eastern defensive zone.
As the Valiants held a 4-1 lead with under 15 minutes left, the Eagles started to mount a comeback. After a goal from Danielle Frasca in the 59th minute, Gina Miller put Eastern within one goal of Manhattanville in the 69th minute. The Eagles continued to apply pressure on Halloran, rattling shot after shot until the final buzzer. The Valiants held the edge as the final whistle blew, picking up their first Freedom Conference win in style, beating Eastern 4-3.
Although Halloran gave up three goals in net, the freshman was outstanding for Manhattanville in between the pipes. Halloran tallied a career high 17 saves, seeing 25 shots from Eastern. For the Eagles, O'Neill made six saves on 23 shots from the Valiants, allowing all four Manhattanville goals.
The Valiants will travel to take on FDU-Florham in their final game of the season on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. Live stats are available via GoValiants.com.
