PORTLAND, Maine – The Manhattanville College field hockey team picked up a 2-0 win over Plymouth State University in their final game of the Southern Maine Invitational today, Saturday, Aug. 31. The Valiants will return to New York undefeated following the invitational.
 
After an exciting win last night, Manhattanville (2-0) came out today with similar intensity. The offense took over in the first two minutes of the game when a penalty corner was called. Freshman Ava Panzer (Pawling, N.Y./Pawling) took the corner and her pass up to senior Robin Boot (Bedum, Netherlands/H.N. Werkman College) as Plymouth (1-1) goalie Jess Distler denied her shot. A second corner was called and a similar play occurred, Panzer passed it to Boot once again but instead of taking the shot right away she spun around her defender, passed it off to senior Ameerah Thomas (Norfolk, Va./Granby) who was able to find the back of the net. Thomas scored her second goal of the weekend which put the Valiants ahead for an early 1-0 lead.
 
An additional corner was called in the second quarter and sophomore Lexi Crites (Middleboro, Mass./Kents Hill School) stepped up to take it. She gave it to Boot who once again looked for Thomas to recreate the previous corner play, but Thomas' shot was blocked. Attempting to start the Panthers offensive campaign, Natalie Perry took the first shot for Plymouth, but junior Elaina Nacinovich (Patterson, N.Y./Carmel) was able to make a diving block for her first save of the season. Following Nacinovich's save, an additional penalty corner was granted to the Panthers. Boot denied Plymouth's corner advantage with a defensive save.
 
The Panthers attempted one more offensive drive in the last few minutes of the second quarter. Another corner was called with four seconds left giving Plymouth another advantage. Maddie Kabasakalian passed the corner into Kate McPherson for the Panthers, but Nacinovich was able to deny the shot following another foul on Manhattanville as the clock struck zero. Even though no time remained on the clock the corner had to play out. With the Panther's last try of the half, Kabasakalian this time passed it to Keeley Bartolini who took the last shot. Bartolini snuck her ball by Nacinovich but junior Isela Casillas (Chula Vista, Calif./Eastlake) was behind her coming up with a defensive save and sweeping it out of the circle to close the half.
 
The Valiants have had a strong offensive drive throughout the invitational, especially against the Panthers. Plymouth State played primarily a defensive second and third quarter struggling to catch up to Manhattanville. It got even harder for the Panthers when Thomas drove the ball from outside of the circle towards the goal as Crites deflecting a piece of the ball, tipping it past Distler. Crites' goal made the score 2-0 in Manhatanville's favor.
 
With time winding down Plymouth tried to piece their offense together but Manhattanville denied it's chances. Thomas, Casillas and Nacinovich each blocked three additional Panthers shots.
 
The Valiants will return to GoValiants.com Field for the first time this season on Saturday, Sept. 7, at 1:00 p.m. as they take on Cedar Crest College.