MADISON, N.J. – Despite Valiant goals from junior Christie DeMarco (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley Stream South) and senior Tori Lettieri (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East), FDU-Florham's Kim Overland netted the match-winner in the 69th minute to lead the Devils past Manhattanville College, 3-2, in a Freedom Conference women's soccer match on Sunday evening at Shields Field.
 
Manhattanville (2-13-1, 0-5-1 Freedom) lost for the first time this season when scoring more than one goal, while FDU-Florham (6-8-2, 2-3-0 Freedom) moves into a three-way tie for the fourth and final Freedom Conference postseason spot thanks to its victory.
 
The Devils' Mary Kate Whalen opened the scoring exactly 10 minutes into the contest, when she collected a loose ball off a free kick and tapped it into the net.
 
After two saves by sophomore Dolores Diemicke (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) kept it a one-goal game, DeMarco evened the score in the 29th minute. The junior got past a pair of defenders and beat Julia Perry for her career-high eighth goal of the season, a mark that ranks her fourth in the Freedom Conference this season.
 
FDU-Florham regained the lead in the 34th minute on a Brittni Calleo score, but the Valiants responded less than a minute later to again knot the score. This time it was Lettieri doing the honors, as the senior gathered a corner kick from junior Dani Sullivan (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) and found the top netting for her second score of the year.
 
The teams went into halftime tied at two thanks in large part to Diemicke, who made eight saves in the first half alone to counteract FDU's 11-3 edge in total shots.
 
Manhattanville came out of the intermission strong, getting a pair of attempts from Lettieri and freshman Zoew McGrath (New York, N.Y./Saint Vincent Ferrer) over the first eight minutes of the second half. But the Valiant offensive attack slowed down after that and the Devils began to reassert themselves, eventually getting the match-winning score off the foot of Overland in the tail end of the 69th minute.
 
The two teams combined for just two off-target shots over the final 20 minutes, which suited the Devils well as they were able to escape with the victory.
 
Diemicke finished the match with 10 saves for Manhattanville in a losing effort, her sixth game this season of at least 10 stops. That number is the most double-digit save outings by a Valiant keeper in a single season since Michele Ribeiro '07 had eight in 2005.
 
The Valiants will finish up non-conference play on Wednesday night, when the squad travels to Eastern Connecticut State for the penultimate match of the 2014 season beginning at 6 p.m.