PURCHASE, N.Y. – Kean University scored the first nine goals of the game and never let the Manhattanville College women's lacrosse team back into it as the Cougars pulled away for a 19-6 non-conference victory on Thursday afternoon at GoValiants.com Field.
 
Jordan Blanda and Samantha Gnapp paced Kean (3-8) with six points each, as Blanda scored four goals with two helpers while Gnapp chipped in three goals and three assists. Eliza Clark also scored four times for the visitors as well.
 
Senior Meghann Haggerty (Centerport, N.Y./Harborfields) was the top scorer again for Manhattanville (4-6) with four goals, recording a hat trick for the seventh time in her nine games this year. Sophomore Sarah Dalsey (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City) also scored twice for the Valiants.
 
Kean put Manhattanville on the defensive early in the contest, controlling the draws and scoring the first nine goals of the game. Clark opened the scoring from the eight-meter arc 1:56 in and the Cougars kept coming after that, scoring eight more times to open a 9-0 lead with 11:24 left in the half.
 
Haggerty and Dalsey picked up unassisted tallies 33 seconds apart to finally get the home team on the board. After a Kean score, Manhattanville scored four of the final five goals of the half – three coming off the stick of Haggerty – to get itself back into contention down just 11-6 at the break.
 
Unfortunately Manhattanville did not find the net again after those late scores, as Kean scored the only eight tallies of the second half to break the game open and secure the victory.
 
Sophomore Lauren Cassidy (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) held her own between the pipes as usual, turning aside 13 shots for her sixth double-digit save game in 10 outings this season. Nikki Apostolopoulos made three saves on nine shots in the first half to earn the win for Kean, while Shauna LaMaine stopped both shots she faced in the second half.
 
Manhattanville will begin the race to the postseason on Saturday at 1 p.m., as the Valiants play the first of five straight Freedom Conference clashes to end the regular season against Eastern University at GoValiants.com Field.