PURCHASE, N.Y. – After defeating Southern Maine in the quarterfinal round of the New England Hockey Conference quarterfinals, the Manhattanville College women's ice hockey team is set for a trip north to Vermont for the final four of the conference tournament, taking on rival UMass Boston in the semifinal round Friday evening.
 
Manhattanville took down the Huskies 6-2 on Saturday afternoon behind a four-point output by freshman defender Zoey Pellowitz (Arlington, Va./Washington Pride). The Virginia native netted two goals and added two assists on the day and Manhattanville used four goals in the middle period to take control and move on to the semifinal round.
 
When: Manhattanville will travel to host school Norwich University for the final four of the conference tournament. The Valiants take on the Beacons in the semifinals on Friday evening at 7:00 p.m. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday with the time to be determined.
 
Where: Kreitzberg Arena (Northfield, Vt.)
Tickets for the game are $6.00 for adults and $3.00 for children. Fans who cannot make it to Vermont for the games can follow live stats and live video at http://www.govaliants.com/live.
 
Manhattanville Postseason History: The Valiants are in the postseason for the 17th straight season and are 27-8-0 all-time in conference tournament games. Manhattanville has won eight conference tournament championships and has made eight NCAA tournament appearances, including three appearances in the national championship game. Manhattanville is looking for their first conference championship since the 2010-11 season. The last two times Manhattanville have won their quarterfinal matchup, they have advanced to the conference championship.
 
Final Four Remaining: Second-seeded Manhattanville will take on third-seeded UMass Boston on Friday evening at 7:00 pm. The other semifinal matchup features host and top-seeded Norwich taking on fourth-seeded University of New England at 4:00 pm.

All-Time Series vs. UMass Boston: Manhattanville is 26-8-1 all-time against UMass Boston, but have lost the last four meetings between the two squads. The Valiants are unbeaten in neutral site games against the Beacons, winning the only two games on neutral ice. This is also the seventh consecutive season that the two rivals have met in the postseason, with Manhattanville winning the first three matchups, and UMass-Boston winning the three most recent postseason contests. Two of the first three meetings came in the tournament semifinals, while the last three have all come in the quarterfinal round.
 
Last Matchup: The two teams last met in the regular-season finale where UMass Boston was victorious, 3-2. Manhattanville had already wrapped up the number two seed in the conference postseason tournament, holding off the Beacons down the stretch. Junior Karly Kapur (Sparta, N.J./N.J. Colonials) and sophomore Kat Reilly (Holbrook, N.Y./Boston Shamrocks (JWHL)) each scored in the game, and Ali Bianchini, Rachel Peacock, and Edy Moritz tallied goals for the Beacons.
 
Manhattanville Preview: Last weekend Manhattanville scored four times in the second period to come from behind and defeat Southern Maine 6-2. Sophomore Nicole Mensi (Mamaroneck, N.Y./SUNY Plattsburgh) scored the game's first goal, and juniors Melissa Stys (Pequannock, N.J./The Kent School), Maeve O'Brien (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy), and Kristi Peters (Newport Beach, Calif./Anaheim Lady Ducks) joined Pellowitz as the goal scorers in the contest. Manhattanville's offense is its strongest asset, as they average 3.6 goals per game, ranking eighth among Division III teams. After tallying three goals in 124 seconds last game, Manhattanville has now scored two or more goals less than 90 seconds apart 12 times this season. Along with their ability to strike quickly, Manhattanville is a force when scoring first, winning 15 of 17 contests when they tally the game's first goal.
 
UMass Boston Preview: The Beacon-Valiant rivalry has made for many exciting games in the past few seasons and is sure to be another exciting contest this weekend. The Beacons have won four straight against Manhattanville but the final score does not reflect the performance of the Valiants. In the season's first matchup, UMass Boston held off a furious Valiant comeback effort early in the season, as the Valiants outshot the Beacons 42-18, including an 18-3 advantage in the third period. Despite not having a single player score more than 10 goals this season, the Beacons average just under three goals per contest and allow just under two per game. Kayleigh Beauregard and Emilly Harris lead the offensive charge with 18 and 17 points respectively. The Beacons are also very strong when scoring first, boasting a 14-2 record when tallying the first goal.
 
Projected Goalie Matchup: Friday will feature a matchup of Massachusetts natives as sophomore Rose Pijaca (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Academy) will take on second-team All-Conference goaltender Rachel Myette. Pijaca made 36 saves in two appearances against the Beacons this season with a 1.71 goals against average. Myette has stopped 82 shots in the two games against the Valiants, going 2-0 with two goals allowed per game.