RYE, N.Y. — The Manhattanville College women's hockey team picked up an impressive 4-2 victory over the United Collegiate Hockey Conference's (UCHC) No. 1 seed, William Smith College, Saturday, Jan. 19 at Playland Ice Casino.

William Smith (12-2, 10-1 UCHC) entered Saturday's game a perfect 10-0 in UCHC play and had outscored conference opponents by a score of 60-4, but the Valiants (11-5-2, 7-3-1 UCHC) played a strong game on both ends of the ice and now find themselves in position to climb in the UCHC standings.

The Herons started the game strong, receiving a pair of power play opportunities and outshooting Manhattanville 15-4 in the first period, but senior goaltender Rose Pijaca (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Academy) continued her strong play and kept William Smith off the board as the teams skated to a scoreless first period.

The teams played an evenly contested second period until junior defender Zoey Pellowitz (Arlington, Va./Washington Pride (JWHL)) got the Valiants on the board with a one-timer off a faceoff that beat William Smith goaltender Olivia Williams to give Manhattanville a 1-0 lead, with senior forward Nicole Mensi (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Northwood School) and junior forward Janet Xu (Edmonton, Alta./Ontario Hockey Academy) providing the assists. Then with time winding down in the second, Mensi picked up her first goal of the afternoon on a redirection in front of the net just as a William Smith penalty had ended, with sophomore Tianna Lopes (West Vancouver, British Columbia/Pacific Steelers (JWHL)) picking up the assist, extending the Valiants' lead to 2-0 heading into the third.

The final period featured plenty of back-and-forth play and momentum swings, as the Herons would strike just over four minutes in when Gina Scibetta beat Pijaca with a wrist shot to cut Manhattanville's lead to 2-1. But the Valiants would answer back just over a minute later, as Mensi received a pass from Xu and fired a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that beat Williams to give the Valiants a two goal lead once again.

Just 28 seconds after Mensi's second goal, Scibetta would get it right back for William Smith when she picked up a rebound in the slot following an initial save by Pijaca and put it in to get the Herons back within one. Following the three goals in a 1:52 span, the teams would skate evenly until late in the third, when Xu picked up her third point of the game on a backhand shot that beat Williams five-hole to extend the Valiants' lead to 4-2 with just over two minutes remaining, with junior Brayden James (Denton, Texas/Dallas Stars Elite (EHL)) picking up the assist.

A pair of Valiants had three-point nights, as Mensi picked up two goals and one assist, while Xu added one goal and two helpers.

Pijaca picked up her seventh win of the season, making 27 saves on the afternoon.

Faceoffs and special teams continued to be a strength for the team. Manhattanville won 62 percent of their faceoffs, and the Valiants' penalty killing was a perfect 4-for-4 on the day, bringing their penalty kill percentage to 92.3 percent on the season.

The Valiants will look to complete a season sweep of William Smith when the two teams face off Sunday, Jan. 20, with puck drop scheduled for 3:00 p.m.