RYE, N.Y. – Sophomore Kat Reilly (Holbrook, N.Y./Boston Shamrocks (JWHL)) scored the game-winning goal shorthanded in the third period to lead the Manhattanville College women's ice hockey team past Franklin Pierce University 2-1 Saturday, keeping sole possession of the number two seed in the New England Hockey Conference postseason standings.
 
For the Valiants, it was the first win in three all-time tries against the Ravens, and helped them pick up a much needed two points to stay ahead of UMass Boston for second place among Division III teams in the NEHC.  The Valiants have now won four consecutive conference matchups since falling to UMass Boston back on January 13. 
 
Reilly's goal was her sixth of the season and the first career game-winning goal for the Long Island native.  Junior Melissa Stys (Pequannock, N.J./The Kent School) scored as well for Manhattanville, and senior Lindsay Diot (Bethel, Conn./Boston Shamrocks), sophomore Morgan Wilm (West Chester, Pa./Millbrook Mustangs), and freshmen Amanda Sabia (Freehold, N.J./The Gunnery) and Zoey Pellowitz (Arlington, Va./Washington Pride) picked up a point each with assists in the win.  In goal, sophomore Rose Pijaca (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Academy) continued to be unbeatable in conference play, improving to 5-0 on the year.  Pijaca needed 20 saves to earn the win, while her counterpart Shannon O'Neill made 31 saves for the Ravens.
 
As they have so many times this year, Manhattanville jumped ahead in the early going, when Stys deflected in a pass from Wilm just 57 seconds into the opening period to give the Valiants the early 1-0 advantage.  Manhattanville continued to dominate in the opening stanza, outshooting the Ravens 17-3, but O'Neil settled in after allowing the goal on the first shot of the game, making 16 consecutive saves to shut down the Valiants the rest of the first period. The Ravens had two power-play opportunities in the period, but the Valiant special teams unit continued their strong play, completely shutting down the Raven power play.
 
Valiant penalties in the second period allowed Franklin Pierce to gain some momentum, as the Valiants took three penalties in the middle period.  The Ravens were finally able to capitalize on the man-advantage with 15:09 to play when Marisa Ketterman broke free behind the Valiant defense and beat Pijaca glove side to level the scoring at 1-1. 
 
The third period continued to be a defensive struggle for both squads, remaining tied with 15 minutes passed before the Valiant special teams unit came up with the biggest play of the game.  On the penalty kill, Sabia deflected a point pass out to center ice to a wide open Pellowitz who went streaking in on the breakaway.  On the one-on-one opportunity, Pellowitz missed the cage with her shot, but the rebound deflected off the half boards right back to her stick, and a backhanded centering pass found a trailing Reilly, who buried it past O'Neil to give Manhattanville the 2-1 lead. 
 
After successfully killing off the penalty, the Ravens pulled O'Neil for the extra skater with 1:30 to play.  Sophomore Nicole Mensi (Mamaroneck, N.Y./SUNY Plattsburgh) had an opportunity to ice the game with less than one minute to play, but her shot from center ice rang off the iron and kept the Ravens alive.  The Manhattanville defense fended off the Raven attack, however and the Valiants held on for the 2-1 victory.
 
With the win, Manhattanville improves to 9-2 in NEHC action this year, marking the first time since the 2012-13 season that the team collected nine conference wins in a season.  Franklin Pierce slips to 8-4 in conference play to remain in fifth place in the conference standings. The Valiants will look to continue their hot streak on Tuesday when they host Lebanon Valley College for their final non-conference matchup of the season beginning at 7:00 pm.