PURCHASE, N.Y. – Senior Bregje Smits (Bussum, Netherlands/Willen de Zwigger College) scored two goals, including the game-winning goal with 8:02 left in regulation, as the Manhattanville College field hockey team moved into a tie for first place in the MAC Freedom with a 3-2 victory over Wilkes University on Saturday afternoon at GoValiants.com Field.
 
Smits had another huge game for Manhattanville (8-4, 2-1 MAC Freedom), scoring her team's last two goals to give the squad a pair of one-goal leads. Freshman and countrymate Robin Boot (Bedum, Netherlands/H.N. Werkman College) also scored her first career goal for the Valiants, while junior Melissa Stys (Pequannock, N.J./Kent School) had a pair of assists in the win over first-place Wilkes (8-5, 2-1 MAC Freedom).

For Stys, her two assists give her 13 for the season, which is tied for second on the school's single-season list, behind only the 17 of Danielle Lacroix '06 in 2004. Smits moves into a tie for 10th on the school single-season goals ledger with 12, and she also moved into sixth place in career points (75) and seventh in career goals (32) in school history.
 
A flurry of offensive opportunities resulted in the first goal of the game from the Lady Colonels in the eighth minute. After Smits and junior Haley Linkroum (Deposit, N.Y./Deposit) made back-to-back defensive saves to keep the ball out of the net, the ensuing battle in front resulted in a penalty stroke for Wilkes that Maura Anistranski converted to give the visitors an early lead.
 
Manhattanville tied the game at the 14:32 mark thanks to a nice play from freshman Ameerah Thomas (Norfolk, Va./Granby), who blocked a clearance attempt by Wilkes keeper Dallas Kendra and then fed the ball out front where Boot tipped it home for her first collegiate goal.
 
The Valiants returned to their conventional form of scoring with 3:45 left before halftime, as Stys inserted a corner to the top of the arc for Smits, who fired a rocket into the corner for her 11th goal of the season.
 
Wilkes converted its seventh corner of the game less than three minutes into the second half, with Gianna Gennetts finding the net to even the score.
 
But the home team had the answer with 8:02 left and again it was Smits, who fired a shot past Kendra off the team's fourth corner of the afternoon to put the Valiants back up 3-2.

Wilkes finished the game with a 16-6 edge in total shots an a 13-4 advantage in penalty corners, but the Valiant defense held strong for much of the contest. Junior keeper Kaitlin Halloran (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown East) made seven saves in addition to her team's two defensive saves.
 
Manhattanville will continue MAC Freedom play next Saturday, when the Valiants head on the road to take on Misericordia University beginning at 1 p.m.