PURCHASE, N.Y. – For the eighth consecutive season, the Manhattanville College women's hockey team will begin the ECAC East Tournament at home, as the third-seeded Valiants will host sixth-seeded UMass Boston in the ECAC East Tournament quarterfinals on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Playland Ice Casino.

Manhattanville finished the season in third place in the ECAC East, recording a 10-10-5 record, while going 8-6-3 in conference. After a 5-0 start, the Beacons struggled in the second half of the season to finish with an overall record of 9-12-4, and a 6-9-2 conference record.

The game is a rematch of the 2014 quarterfinals, when the Beacons travelled to Terry Conners Rink and handed the Valiants a stunning 3-0 defeat, bringing the season to an early end. The Valiants will be looking to repay the favor on Saturday as the team has returned home to Playland Ice Casino, where the team is 16-2 all-time in postseason competition.

This is the third meeting between these two teams this season.  Manhattanville won the first contest on November 15, at Playland Ice Casino by a final score of 2-0.  Senior Kirsten Shaughnessy (Le Center, Minn./LeSueur-Henderson St. Peter) recorded her first of five shutouts this season while senior captain Rachael Morrison (Ridgefield, Conn./Sound Shore Warriors (MAWHL)) scored what would go on to be the eventual game winner, just 2:18 into the first period. 

In a return matchup, the Valiants travelled to UMass Boston on January 30 in what would turn out to be a much more tightly contested game. Manhattanville gave up three straight goals to fall behind in the second period, but the visitors later rallied with three straight of their own to stun the Beacons. Down 4-2 with less than seven minutes left in the third period, the Valiants scored two goals just two minutes apart to send the game to overtime. At the 1:27 mark of overtime, sophomore Taryn Harris (Morrison, Colo./Colorado Selects) scored the first game-winning goal of her Manhattanville career, sealing the 5-4 (OT) comeback victory for the Valiants.

Manhattanville has won an conference-best eight ECAC East Conference Tournament championships, the last coming in 2010-11 with a 4-2 win at top-seeded Norwich. The Valiants are 25-5 all-time in ECAC East Tournament play, including a 5-1 mark against UMass Boston. Saturday's game also marks the fifth straight season in which the Valiants and Beacons will meet in the postseason, with the teams splitting two quarterfinal matchups and Manhattanville winning both semifinal clashes during that span.

Leading the offense for the Valiants has been the group of senior forwards Michele Meggiolaro (Whippany, N.J./New Jersey Colonials (MAWHA)), Aubrey Bachand (Harwichport, Mass./Vermont Academy), Sydney Asselstine (Hartington, Ontario/Nepean Wildcats (PWHL)) and Alla Traun (Edina, Minn./Minnesota Thoroughbreds (JWHL)). Traun leads the Valiants in points with 23, including nine goals and 14 assists on the season, while Meggiolaro is second in total points with a team-best 10 goals and nine assists. Morrison is leading the team in assists with 15 from the blue line while Bachand and Asselstine have 14 points and 13 points, respectively.

The defensive unit for the Valiants has meshed throughout the season and proved to be one of the strong points for this team. Morrison (3 G, 15 A) has continued to dominate the competition, making smart plays with the puck and showing off her offensive prowess and ability to get up the ice and join the attack. Freshman Maeve O'Brien (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) has shown to be a great facilitator and is comfortable handling the puck along the blue line, earning her a role on a power play unit that is converting on 15.7% of its opportunities.

When it comes to the playoffs, a team will only go as far as their goaltender carries them. Shaughnessy had started 17 games for the Valiants between the pipes, posting a team-best 2.12 goals against average and .915 save percentage to go with five shutouts. Freshman Ekaterina Nikonova (Lybertcy, Russia/King's Edgehill School) has made eight appearances this year and is 3-4-1 with a 4.08 goals against average and .852 save percentage, while sophomore Olivia Drew (York, Maine/Portland Jr. Pirates) has played in three games and most recently turned aside 12 of 13 shots against a Saint Anselm team that finished first in the ECAC East in scoring offense on Saturday.

The Beacons have spread their offensive production throughout the team as not a single player has double-digit goals in the 2014-15 season. Junior Samantha Fallon leads the team in goals with eight to go along with five assists for 13 points, placing her third on the team. Leading the team in points is sophomore forward Kayla Smith, who has four goals to go along with 11 assists. 

The other playoff games on Saturday are:
#1 Norwich vs. #8 University of New England– 3 p.m.
#2 Salve Regina vs. #7 Nichols – 7 p.m.
#4 Castleton St. vs. #5 Southern Maine – 7 p.m.

The four remaining teams will travel to the home ice of the top remaining seed for the ECAC East Tournament semifinals on Saturday, March 7 and the championship game the following day on March 8.