HILTON HEAD, S.C. – The Manhattanville College women's lacrosse team dropped its first game of the season on Wednesday, falling by a 17-10 score to Wesley College in the first game of the Valiants' 2015 Spring break trip.
 
In a game that featured balanced scoring on both sides, Valiant senior Meghann Haggerty (Centerport, N.Y./Harborfields) and freshman AnnaMarie Nardone (Thornwood, N.Y./Westlake) tied for the game-high with three goals apiece, with Haggerty also adding an assist for a game-high four points. Freshman Christina Leva (Hawthorne, N.Y./Westlake) also had two points with a pair of assists for Manhattanville (1-1).
 
Mckenzie Marvel and Allison Perugini led Wesley (3-1) with three goals each. Kaitlyn Ennis, Kaitlin Brennan and Nyi Wright chipped in two goals apiece, with Ennis and Brennan also assisting on one goal each.
 
Wesley scored the first three goals of the game and kept pressure on Manhattanville early, jumping out to a 6-2 lead after Rylee Gould found the net with 18:14 left in the first half. Three Valiant goals in a row got the squad back in the game, with Haggerty starting the run and Nardone adding back-to-back scores from Leva to make it a 6-5 game.
 
The Wolverines added one more before the half to take a 7-5 lead into intermission.
 
Haggerty again got the Valiants back within one 67 seconds into the second half, but Wesley scored three goals in a row as part of a decisive 9-1 run that swung momentum back toward the Wolverines. Manhattanville got goals by Haggerty and sophomore M.J. Caro (Nantucket, Mass./Nantucket) late in the contest, but it was not enough to come back.
 
Sophomore Lauren Cassidy (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) did all she could to keep the Valiants in the game, finishing the afternoon with 16 saves.
 
Manhattanville will remain in Hilton Head for its second game of Spring Break, a Friday morning matchup with New England College starting at 11 a.m.