POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Bard College scored nine of the game's final 11 goals to deal Manhattanville College a 21-13 defeat in a non-conference women's lacrosse matchup on Saturday afternoon at Vassar College's Weinberg Field.
 
Freshman Melissa O'Mara (Huntington, N.Y./St. Anthony's) led all players with five goals and also added an assist for a team-best six points, while also registering a team-high six ground balls, seven draw controls and three caused turnovers. Senior Jenna Nance (Glendale, Calif./Glendale) scored three times with five ground balls and classmate Carly Weiss (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) added three points on two goals and an assist as well for Manhattanville (1-1).
 
The Valiants jumped out to a 3-1 lead 5:02 into the opening half thanks to single goals from O'Mara, Weiss and Nance. The team kept its lead for most of the opening half before three straight bard goals put the visitors up 8-7 after a Casey Witte score with 5:05 left.
 
Manhattanville tied the game late in the first half on O'Mara's fourth goal and then again early in the second on Nance's second of the day. Following three straight Bard tallies, O'Mara and freshman Rosie DeBellis (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Arlington) scored back-to-back tallies to get the Valiants within one at 12-11 with 18:28 remaining, but the Raptors followed with seven straight goals to take a commanding 19-11 lead with 8:09 left.
 
The game was evenly played by both teams, as each squad took 39 shot attempts. Part of the Valiants' troubles came from the eight-meter arc, as the team scored on just 3-of-14 free-position attempts. Junior Alex Breen (South Windsor, Conn./Kingswood Oxford School) was forced into goaltending duty on Saturday, making 12 saves on 39 total shots. Kaylynn Tran turned aside 15 shots to earn the win for the Raptors.
 
The Valiants will return to action on Wednesday with a 4 p.m. matchup at Drew University.