PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College women's soccer team earned an early lead and nearly held on to it the rest of the way, but the Valiants conceded a goal in the 90th minute and had to settle for a 1-1 (2OT) tie with Delaware Valley College in both teams' Freedom Conference opener on a rainy and dreary Saturday afternoon at Keio Academy Field.
 
Junior Christie DeMarco (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley Stream South) gave Manhattanville (2-8-1, 0-0-1 Freedom) a lead in the 13th minute and it looked like the Valiants would hold the lead for the remainder of the contest despite a persistent Aggie attack. But those hopes were dashed with less than a minute remaining, when Nikki Dunlap curled one home to even the score for Delaware Valley (3-6-2, 0-0-1 Freedom).
 
Manhattanville came out of the gates strong in near downpour conditions, getting the first shot of the match from junior Dani Sullivan (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) in the sixth minute. Sullivan figured in the Valiant scoring a few minutes later, when she sprung her classmate with a nice through ball and DeMarco buried it past Shayna Schaeffer for her team- and conference-leading seventh goal of the year.
 
It was the Valiants' first and only on-target shot of the opening half, but sophomore Dolores Diemicke (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) made two saves to keep the home team ahead at the break. After 45 minutes, Delaware Valley posted a 6-3 edge in total shots.
 
The second half featured the same 6-3 shot disparity, but it was the final shot that broke the Valiant hearts. With under a minute left in regulation, Dunlap picked up a loose ball near the top of the 18 and curled the ball into the top-right corner for her third tally of the season.
 
Manhattanville nearly made it a 2-0 game in the 57th minute when junior Carolina Pelaez (Ossining, N.Y./Ossining) just missed the right post from 20 yards out, and the team had another chance in the 80th minute thanks to a good shot from junior Nicolette Diodati (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) that was turned aside by Schaeffer.
 
Meanwhile, Diemicke held down the fort at the other end, needing to make only one tough save before one defensive breakdown resulted in the match-tying score.
 
The sophomore made two more saves in each of the 10-minute overtime periods, helping her team to at least salvage a draw in the first conference match of the year.
 
Delaware Valley finished the game with an 18-8 shot advantage, but Diemicke stood tall with nine saves to keep her team in the contest. Schaeffer ended the match with two saves for the visitors.
 
Manhattanville will make its second attempt at picking up its first conference win of the season next Saturday, when the Valiants travel to Eastern for a noon matchup with the Eagles.