PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College field hockey team battled against #1 The College of New Jersey on Tuesday night, but was unable to overcome the high-powered Lions offense in a 4-1 defeat at GoValiants.com Field.
The Valiants (5-6 overall) began the game with an incredibly strong defensive performance. TCNJ (7-0 overall) began the game with a strong offensive attack, working the ball into the attacking end for the majority of the first 20 minutes. The Manhattanville defense held strong however, fighting off the attack on numerous occasions with several key clearances to end Lion threats.
The Lions broke through in the 28th minute, when Lexi Smith fired a shot just inside the left post off of a penalty corner to give TCNJ a 1-0 lead, which they would carry into halftime.
The Valiants continued to impress on defense at the start of the second half. Despite being outshot 8-0 in the first half, the defense stopped several attacks and provided the opportunity for counter attacks on the offensive end. One of these counter attacks led to a great opportunity in the second half, when
Nicole Fanelle (Burlington, N.J./Burlington Township) collected a cleared ball deep in the attacking end and beat defenders for a one-on-one situation with Lions goalkeeper Kelly Schlupp. With Schlupp charging out of the cage, Fanelle switched directions and tried to beat the junior goalkeeper on the far post. Schlupp made a great save while falling to the ground to keep the Valiants scoreless.
The Lions were able to strike again in the 43rd minute, when Elizabeth Morrison collected a rebound and beat Valiant keeper
Kaitlin Halloran (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown East) to give TCNJ a two-goal advantage.
Looking to answer, Manhattanville earned a penalty corner soon after the restart, and were able to set up their first organized attack of the contest.
Rylee McGuire (Grantham, N.H./Lebanon) found
Bregje Smits (Bussum, Netherlands/Willen de Zwigger College) at the top of the circle, and the junior fired a shot that was deflected by a Lion defender into the top left corner of the cage to cut the deficit to one.
After successfully defending two Lion penalty corners, the Valiants again earned a penalty corner on a counter attack. Manhattanville once again found Smits, whose shot was deflected just wide of the cage in what turned out to be the last chance for the Valiants in the contest.
TCNJ tacked on two late goals to remain undefeated on the season. Halloran looked solid going up against the top-ranked team in her second start of the season, making eight saves on the night and clearing out several balls from inside the circle to end Lion attacks.
The Valiants will look to bounce back when they take on Delaware Valley University in a MAC Freedom contest. That game is slated for a 12:00 P.M. start at GoValiants.com Field.
