NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Manhattanville College women's hockey team scored four power-play goals and put a big scare into USCHO.com and D3hockey.com #1 Plattsburgh State, but the Valiants could not complete the comeback, falling by a final score of 5-4 to the defending national champions on day one of the ECAC East/West Classic, hosted by Norwich University on Saturday.

Several Valiants had multi-point evenings including returning seniors Michele Meggiolaro (Whippany, N.J./New Jersey Colonials (MAWHA)) and Alla Traun (Edina, Minn./Minnesota Thoroughbreds (JWHL)) as well as freshman Sarah Sinning (Southold, NY/National Sports Academy), who tallied two assists in the first game of her collegiate career. Senior Aubrey Bachand (Harwichport, Mass./Vermont Academy) and junior Melissa Hauptman (Smithtown, N.Y./Sound Shore Warriors (MAWHL)) also scored for the Valiants in the contest.

After falling down by a goal seven minutes into the first period on a Plattsburgh State power-play goal, the Valiants answered back with just two minutes later when Asselstine tallied a power-play goal assisted by Sinning. On the power play again with less than four minutes to go in the period, Hauptman scored the second goal of her Manhattanville career when she rifled a puck past Plattsburgh State goaltender Ally Ross to give the Valiants a lead after one period.

It would be a rocky second period that ultimately led to the Valiants defeat. Leading 2-1, the Valiants surrendered two goals in a span of 39 seconds and then allowed a shorthanded goal just five minutes later to find themselves trailing 4-2 halfway through the second period.

Plattsburgh State pushed the lead to three goals when Shannon Stewart slotted the puck past Manhattanville senior goaltender Kirsten Shaughnessy (Le Center, Minn./LeSueur-Henderson St. Peter) at 13:29 mark of the third period. Shaughnessy would go on to finish the game with 26 saves on 31 shots while Abby Ross finished with just 12 saves on 16 shots.

The Valiants battled back, however, cutting the lead to two goals when Bachand scored the third power-play goal of the game for Manhattanville, this one assisted by Traun and sophomore Jerin Dinkins (Grants Pass, Ore./National Sports Academy)    .

Things got a lot more interesting when Meggiolaro scored her first goal of the season, yet another power-play goal, with just 4:50 remaining in the game. The Valiants would go on to put two more shots on goal before pulling Shaughnessy with a minute remaining. Freshman Taryn Harris (Morrison, Colo./Colorado Selects) had two shots blocked during the final minute as the Cardinals defense did an excellent job closing the shooting lanes and closing out the game. 

Although it is a tough loss, it is a positive start for the Valiants against the top team in the countryt. After registering just four shots on goal during the first two periods, the Valiants tallied 11 in the third while holding Plattsburgh State to just five shots. Manhattanville now boasts an unsustainable, but still impressive, 80 percent conversion rate on the power play. If the team can continue with even half of that success rate, they should have no problem making a run at a conference title.

The Valiants have a quick night's sleep before skating against the consensus #3 team in Division III, Elmira College, tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.