PURCHASE, N.Y. — The Manhattanville College women's lacrosse team dropped a tightly-contested 16-13 contest to St. Joseph's College-Long Island Wednesday, March 20 at GoValiants.com Field.

St. Joseph's took the lead early, scoring twice in the first five minutes of the game on goals by Nicole Stoppelli and Tori Staker. The Valiants got on the board when freshman midfielder Lara Keenan (Montgomery, N.Y./Valley Central) scored her 23rd goal of the season to cut the lead to 2-1, but St. Joseph's would then score four unanswered goals to push the lead to 6-1.

Manhattanville would answer back, with sophomore defender Nicole DeMealo (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) getting on the board, followed by goals from sophomore midfielder Melissa O'Mara (Huntington, N.Y./St. Anthony's) and freshman midfielder Ally Petricca (New Hyde Park, N.Y./New Hyde Park Memorial) to get the Valiants back to within two. Staker would add another goal before the end of the half, giving the Golden Eagles a 7-4 lead at the intermission.

Following an early goal by St. Joseph's, freshman attack Brialee Logue (Hampton, N.H./Winnacunnet) scored to bring the Valiants to within three goals at 8-5. The Golden Eagles would add one more, but Manhattanville would then score three unanswered goals in 49 seconds to cut the lead to 9-8, with Petricca, sophomore attack Kayla Telesky (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville), and O'Mara all scoring for the Valiants.

St. Joseph's would answer, scoring five of the next six goals to take a 14-9 lead in the early stages of the second half. The Valiants responded with four of the following five goals, with sophomore midfielder Diana Piacquadio (Port Washington, N.Y./Gilmour Academy) scoring one and O'Mara adding three more. The goals brought Manhattanville to within two goals, but St. Joseph's Lauryn Gregson would score with under two minutes remaining to put the game away in a 16-13 decision.

On the day, O'Mara had five goals and one assist, Logue had two goals and an assist, and sophomore midfielder Hailey DeStasio (West Hempstead, N.Y./West Hempstead) added three assists. The Valiants had a 17-10 edge in draw controls, and junior goalkeeper Bella Marchiselli (Williston Park, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy Academy) made 11 saves on the day.

The Valiants return to action Saturday, March 23, when they host Stockton University at GoValiants.com Field with gametime scheduled for 1:00 p.m.