CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - After coming from behind to tie the game in the second half, the Valiant field hockey team fell in overtime to DeSales University 3-2 Wednesday evening in a MAC Freedom matchup.

The Valiants (9-5, 3-2 MAC Freedom) fought hard to stay in the game the entire night, defending 12 corners in the first half, 22 overall for the night while only earning five of their own.  The Bulldogs (6-10, 1-4 MAC Freedom) held a 21-7 advantage in shots, 13-5 in shots on goal.

The Valiants were holding off DeSales early, defending five penalty corners in the first 18:38 of the game before freshman Robin Boot (Bedum, Netherlands/H.N. Werkman College) gave Manhattanville the lead with her second goal of the season in the 21st minute of action, a lead that the Valiants took into the halftime break.  

The DeSales pressure broke through early in the second half however, as the Bulldogs took the lead with two goals in a span of 53 seconds from Chelsea DeFrancisco and Kylie Honnick-Payne.  The Valiants would not go down easily however, as freshman Maisey Kettlewood (Nottingham, N.H./Dover) scored her first goal of the season just 67 seconds later to level the score at two goals apiece.  

The Valiants defended another five penalty corners successfully over the final twenty minutes of action, and senior goalkeeper Meghan Hughes (Kintnersville, Pa./Palisades) stopped back to back Bulldog shots in the 66th minute to keep the game tied.

Manhattanville had an opportunity late, earning a penalty corner with 3:14 remaining in regulation but the shot of senior Bregje Smits (Bussum, Netherlands/Willen de Zwigger College) went just wide of the post, keeping the score tied after 70 minutes.

In the overtime period, the Bulldogs earned a penalty corner early, but three DeSales shots were turned away to keep the Valiants alive.  Just over seven minutes in the Bulldogs were able to break through, scoring the game-winning goal off the stick of Honnick-Payne.

With the loss, the Valiants drop out of the top spot in the MAC Freedom standings, and currently sit in a tie for third place with a 3-2 record and two games remaining.  The first of those two matchups will take place on Saturday when they host Eastern University at 5:00 pm on Senior Day where the Valiants will honor their three graduating seniors prior to the game.