PURCHASE, N.Y. — On a day where the temperature was below freezing, the Manhattanville College women's lacrosse team started off the season with an impressive 17-9 victory over SUNY Maritime Wednesday, Feb. 27 at GoValiants.com Field.

The Valiants (1-0) started off strong, led by sophomore midfielder Melissa O'Mara (Huntington, N.Y./St. Anthony's) and freshman attack Lara Keenan (Montgomery, N.Y./Valley Central). The duo combined to score the first five goals for Manhattanville, followed up by the first career goal for freshman Brialee Logue (Hampton, N.H./Winnacunnet) to give the Valiants a 6-1 lead just past the midway point of the first half.

Followed by a pair of Maritime (0-1) goals that cut the Manhattanville lead to three, Logue would pick up her second goal, scored shorthanded, to put the Valiants back up by four. O'Mara and Keenan would then score their third and fourth goals of the game, respectively, in the final minutes of the half to give the home team a 9-4 lead going into the intermission.

Manhattanville got off to a slow start in the second half, conceding two goals in the first four minutes, but O'Mara would answer by scoring back-to-back goals in less than a minute to put the Valiants up 11-6 with just under 23 minutes remaining.

The freshman would then take over the rest of the way, as Keenan scored a back-to-back pair of her own to give Manhattanville a 13-6 lead. Logue then picked up her third of the game before Keenan scored two more consecutive goals. Then with just over three minutes remaining, Logue scored the final goal for the Valiants, picking up her fourth on the afternoon to give the Valiants a 17-9 opening day victory.

Keenan, O'Mara, and Logue provided all of the goals for the Valiants, with Keenan scoring eight times in her collegiate debut. O'Mara picked up five goals on the day and Logue added four in her debut as well. Sophomore midfielder Hailey DeStasio (West Hempstead, N.Y./West Hempstead) and sophomore attack Bella Cosentino (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville) both provided a pair of assists on the day for the Valiants, who outshot the Privateers 35-23 on the day and had a 32-30 advantage in ground balls. Junior goalkeeper Bella Marchiselli (Williston Park, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy Academy) picked up the win for the Valiants, making 14 saves on 23 shots faced.

The Valiants return to action Wednesday, March 6, when they host SUNY New Paltz at GoValiants.com Field, with game time scheduled for 4:00 p.m.