PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Valiants were held to their season low in goals scored Thursday, coming up short to DeSales University 8-4 in MAC Freedom action under the lights at GoValiants.com Field.
 
Sophomore Tristan Green (Easton, Conn./Joel Barlow) led the Valiants offensively with three points, recording a point on three of the four Valiant goals Thursday. Green was one of four goal scorers, as seniors Andrew Murray (Yonkers, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) and Colin Morrissey (Shelton, Conn./St. Joseph) along with sophomore Soya Goto (Rye, N.Y./Rye) scored in the loss Thursday. Senior Zach Hoffman (Loudonville, N.Y./LaSalle Institute) stopped six shots on the night while Matt Barry stopped seven shots for DeSales between the pipes.
 
Possession played a major role in Thursday's game, and the Valiants could not solve the Bulldogs defense all night on the offensive end. The Bulldogs held a 38-23 advantage in ground balls and held Manhattanville to just 10-15 on clear attempts while successfully clearing 21-24 opportunities.
 
It was a very slow and meticulous first half of action, as the two squads combined for just four goals in the opening half hour of action. DeSales jumped on top with a goal just over five minutes into the contest, but the Valiants responded late in the quarter with Murray's 20th tally of the season, making it a 1-1 game at the end of the opening stanza.
 
Bulldog defender Frank Krug frustrated the Valiants all half as the nation's leader in caused turnovers forced four Valiant turnovers in the half. The Valiants could not find the back of the net in the second quarter, unable to answer two tallies from DeSales and found themselves trailing 3-1 at the half.
 
The tempo picked up a bit in the third quarter, but it was DeSales expanding the lead to three goals at the final intermission. Goto scored his first goal of the season to cut the deficit back to two goals after the Bulldogs struck first in the second, but DeSales had the answer once again going back up three with 15 minutes to play.
 
In the final stanza, the Bulldog defense continued to shut down Manhattanville, as the Valiants could not capitalize on two man-up opportunities and could get just five shots on goal in the final quarter. Two of those shots got past Barry, as Green and Morrissey tallied goals but the Valiants ultimately fell short against, dropping the conference matchup 8-4 to DeSales.
 
The Valiants drop to 1-2 in league play with the loss and will have a tall task ahead of them when they travel to five-time defending conference champion Eastern University on April 19 for a huge conference battle with the Eagles beginning at 4:00 pm.