READING, Pa. – A tough first half was too much to overcome for the Manhattanville College women's lacrosse team on Saturday afternoon, as the Valiants dropped a 13-9 contest to host Alvernia University in a non-conference battle at the AU Turf Field.
Manhattanville (3-3) outscored Alvernia (4-2) by a 7-4 margin over the final 27:32 of the game, but the Valiants dug too much of a hole for themselves after the Crusaders scored nine of the game's first 11 goals.
Junior
Carly Weiss (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) led the Valiants with three goals, while senior
Olivia Drew (York, Maine/York) added two goals and a team-best four draw controls for the visitors as well. Alvernia's Abby McCarthy led all players with five goals and six points on the day.
The two teams traded goals for the first 16 minutes of the contest, as senior
Sarah Dalsey (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City) and sophomore
Evaline Diaz (Temecula, Calif./Temecula Valley) matched Crusader goals with ones of their own to knot the score at two with 14:03 remaining. However, Alvernia closed the half with the final six goals of the half to take an 8-2 lead into intermission.
After Alvernia scored the first goal of the second half, Weiss scored twice and Drew added one to get the Valiants back within four at 9-5 with 22:39 left. The deficit was decreased to three with 9:02 remaining after back-to-back goals from Drew and Weiss less than a minute apart, but the visitors only managed one more goal the rest of the way, coming off the stick of senior
AnnaMarie Nardone (Thornwood, N.Y./Westlake).
The Valiants finished the game with a 30-26 edge in shots and also controlled 14 of 23 draws on the afternoon. Freshman
Bella Marchiselli (Williston Park, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy Academy) earned the start and suffered the loss, allowing eight goals on 11 attempts in the first half. Senior
Lauren Cassidy (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) came on for the second half, stopping five of the 10 on-target shots she faced.
Manhattanville will once again attempt to start the home schedule on Thursday, when the Valiants host St. Joseph's (L.I.) College beginning at 5 p.m. at GoValiants.com Field.
