PURCHASE, N.Y. – Sophomore
Bregje Smits (Bussum, Netherlands/Willen de Zwigger College) scored two goals for the Manhattanville field hockey team on Saturday afternoon, but the Valiants could not complete the comeback against Wilkes, falling by a final score of 5-3.
Although Manhattanville (2-9, 0-1 Freedom) outshot Wilkes (3-5, 1-0 Freedom) 24-16, the Colonels maintained the edge in goals, scoring five of them against sophomore goalkeeper
Meghan Hughes (Kintnersville, Pa./Palisades).
The Colonels got started early offensively against the Valiants, tallying two goals in the first 17 minutes of the match. Maura Brownsey scored the first goal for the Colonels in the 10th minute while Marissa Surdy found the back of the net in the 17th minute. Both Brownsey and Surdy combined for all five goals, including a hat trick off the stick of Surdy.
Despite being down by two early, the Valiants continued to apply pressure on Wilkes goalkeeper Lauren Burrows. Manhattanville scored its first goal of the game in the 23rd minute as Smits blasted a shot off a penalty corner past the stick of Burrows. Junior
Rylee McGuire (Grantham, N.H./Lebanon) assisted on all three goals for Manhattanville.
With time winding down before the end of the first half, Surdy scored with just two seconds remaining, extending the Wilkes lead to 3-1 at halftime. Surdy picked up right where she left off in the second half, scoring just a minute in, giving the Colonels a 4-1 lead. It only took four more minutes for Manhattanville to cut its deficit to two as graduate student
Kirsten Savage (Harrington Park, N.J./Old Tappan) beat Burrows in the 40th minute.
After the goal from Savage, the Valiants would eventually score again in the 58th minute when it was Smits scoring her second goal of the game on a penalty corner. Down by one, Manhattanville had many opportunities to seize the equalizer, but Wilkes was able to fend off the Valiants. The Colonels added an insurance goal with just six seconds left as Brownsey connected for her second goal of the game, helping lead Wilkes to a 5-3 victory.
In net, Hughes collected five saves on 16 Wilkes shots while Burrows tallied six saves on 24 shots from Manhattanville.
The Valiants will travel to take on Freedom Conference foe Misericordia in their next game on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Live stats are available via GoValiants.com.
