BRISTOL, RI – The Manhattanville College field hockey team used three second half goals to defeat Roger Williams University, 4-2, in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon at Bayside Field.

"Everyone really contributed to the win with four different players scoring," stated head coach Kevin Kelly. "It was a real team effort and I'm very proud of them."

Manhattanville (2-1) opened up the scoring when senior Bregje Smits (Bussum, Netherlands/Willen de Zwigger College) found junior Melissa Stys (Pequannock, N.J./Kent School) for her second goal of the season at the 19:49 mark of the first half to give Manhattanville an early 1-0 lead.

The Hawks responded just seven minutes later when sophomore Lillian McNeil netted her second goal of the season to tie the game.

The Valiants opened up the second half by retaking the lead when Smits ripped a shot from just inside the arc past sophomore keeper Mya Lunn for her third goal of the season. McNeil collected her second goal of the game just three minutes later to knot the game at two.

Freshman Ameerah Thomas (Norfolk, Va./Granby) recorded her first career goal as a Valiant and it ended up being the game-winner as Thomas was able to score off of a rebound to put Manhattanville ahead for good.

The Valiants scored an insurance goal six minutes later when Smits found fellow classmate Amanda Cirocco (Totowa, N.J./Passaic Valley) for her first goal of the 2016 season.

The Hawks would not go away as Roger Williams recorded four shots in the final 10 minutes of the game but Manhattanville held on for the victory as junior Kaitlin Halloran (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown East) stopped six of seven shots in the second half to help preserve the win.

"The team really pulled it together in the second half," added Kelly.

Both teams ended up with 15 shots apiece as the Valiants were actually outshot 10-7 in the second half despite outscoring the Hawks 3-1.

Roger Williams (0-3) was led by McNeil with two goals on four shots and senior Meghan Curran added four shots while Lunn had seven saves in the loss.

Smits recorded her second multi-point of the season with a goal and two assists to lead Manhattanville. Cirroco, Thomas along with Stys all accounted for goals and freshman Robin Boot (Bedum, Netherlands/H.N. Werkman College) had three shots for the Valiants as well. Halloran improved to 2-0 on the season by collecting seven saves in the victory.

The Valiants will have a short turn around as Manhattanville will be back in action on Sunday when they travel to Portland, Maine for a non-conference battle against Southern Maine at noon.