PURCHASE, N.Y. – With an opportunity to advance to the Freedom Conference Tournament on the line, the Manhattanville men's soccer team fell by a final score of 2-0 to the Monarchs of King's (Pa.) College on a rainy Saturday afternoon at GoValiants.com Field. Seniors Michael Alcaraz (Burbank, Calif./Burbank) and Ezra Kauffman-Rogoff (Washington, D.C./Edmund Burke) both logged considerable minutes in the final game of their collegiate careers.

Due to the tie-breaker rules, the Valiants entered Saturday's match needing to beat the Monarchs by two goals or more to move into a tie for third place in the Freedom Conference and secure a postseason bid. The Monarchs clearly prepared for the Valiants' attack as the team played shutdown defense from the opening whistle.

While Manhattanville (7-11-0, 3-4-0 Freedom) had opportunities to score, it was ultimately the Monarchs getting on the board first when Korbin Keene struck a volley from outside the 18-yard box and placed it in the upper far corner of the net, out of the diving reach of junior goalkeeper Willie Silber (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem East).

Entering the second half and needing three goals to advance, the odds were stacked against Manhattanville. In the 62nd minute, Keegan Fees finished off a great sequence of touch-passing, striking the ball past Silber for an insurmountable 2-0 lead.

Silber would finish the game with four saves while Tyler Wilson recorded a two-save shutout for the Monarchs.

Despite losing the two seniors, Alcaraz and Kauffman-Rogoff, the Valiants are set to return 22 letterwinners next season as the team looks to make another run at a Freedom Conference Championship in 2015.