PURCHASE, N.Y. – Junior Bregje Smits (Bussum, Netherlands/Willen de Zwigger College) recorded her first career hat-trick as the Manhattanville College field hockey team rolled past MAC Freedom foe DeSales University 4-0, on Wednesday afternoon at GoValiants.com Field.
 
The Valiants (6-11 overall, 1-4 MAC Freedom) came firing out of the gates, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first 12 minutes of the contest.  Smits netted her first goal just 1:15 into the game, dribbling through past the defense, and firing a shot inside the right post to give Manhattanville the early advantage.  She followed up the goal with her second in the 5th minute, this time firing a shot from the top of the circle that just snuck inside the left post for her seventh goal of the season. 
 
Manhattanville kept building momentum early, catching the Bulldogs (3-13 overall, 0-5 MAC Freedom) off guard with a long ball from just across midfield, finding sophomore Lisa Maxwell (Wassenaar, Netherlands/Maerlant Lyceum) inside the scoring circle.  The Dutch native beat Bulldog goalkeeper Savanna Lacek to make it a three-goal advantage in just the 12th minute. 
 
Smits tacked on the final blow in the 53rd minute, sending a reverse sweep inside the far post to finish off the hat-trick and lead the Valiants to their first conference win of the season. 
 
"We got the offense going early on today which gave everyone a chance to relax on the field.  I am very proud of the way they played today," said head coach Kevin Kelly.
 
The Valiants will take to the road on Saturday when they take on #19 Eastern University, before returning home Tuesday, October 27th to take on FDU-Florham on Senior Day.