Box Score PURCHASE, N.Y. - The Manhattanville College women's soccer team put together arguably its best defensive effort of the season on Saturday afternoon, but one bad stroke of luck was enough to do the squad in as Kean University, tops among teams receiving votes in this week's NSCAA Div. III national poll, escaped GoValiants.com Field with a 1-0 victory over the Valiants.

Sophomore goalkeeper Dolores Diemicke (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) was outstanding in net against the Cougars, reaching double digits for the second straight match by turning aside 12 saves in net to keep her squad in the contest. The defense's only mistake of the game in the 86th minute, as a great sprawling save by Diemicke spun backward toward the Valiant goal and some miscommunication in front of the net allowed the ball to carom into the empty net.
 
The Cougars fired from all cylinders in the first half, but could not get past the presence of Diemicke in net. Diemicke faced 10 shots from Kean, saving six shots in between the pipes while the Valiants did not record a shot on goal.  Headed into the half, both Kean and Manhattanville were notched up at zero.
 
The second half was a lot similar to the first, as the Valiants were able to hold off any Cougars offensive pursuit. The starting back line of seniors Erika Deetjen (West Windsor, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro South), Tori Lettieri (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East) and Sara Auld (Windsor, N.Y./Windsor Central) as well as junior Christie Freer (Southington, Conn./Southington) continued to come up big defensively throughout the game, continually turning aside the Cougars and limiting their chances offensively.
 
In net, Diemicke made 12 saves on 20 shots from the Cougars while Kean goalkeeper KC Nunez only faced three shots, picking up two saves in the victory.
 
Manhattanville will next play at home against Drew University on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Both live video and live stats are available via GoValiants.com.