PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – A late goal in the second half was the difference maker in a defensive battle on Wednesday evening, as the Manhattanville College women's soccer team was defeated at Saint Joseph's-Long Island in their regular season finale. The 1-0 loss will send the Valiants into the postseason with a 6-9-2 overall record and a 6-3-2 mark in Skyline Conference play.

Despite the loss, the Valiants will being playing postseason ball, having clinched a spot in the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament. Manhattanville holds the No. 5 seed following the conference's tiebreaker procedures.

Wednesday's tilt in Long Island was decided in the 76^th minute, as Alyssa Ramcke broke the scoreless affair for the Golden Eagles after knocking in Abbey Curcio's corner kick past Macey Girard (Branford, Conn./Branford). The goal would be the only score on either side of the field for the night, allowing Saint Joseph's to leapfrog the Valiants in the conference standings to claim the fourth-seed in the Championship Tournament.

The Golden Eagles outshot the Valiants 14-7 as Saint Joseph's fired eight total shots on goal. Girard played strong with seven saves, but the lone second half blemish proved to be the difference maker.

Of Manhattanville's seven shots, five were on goal, but Mikayla Ritter was able to preserve the clean sheet for the home team. Dori Grasso (Shelton, Conn./St. Joseph), Natalie Aracena (Bronx, N.Y./Riverdale Kingsbride Academy), Kelly Barrera (Port Chester, NY/Port Chester High School), Jennifer Xiong (Connelly Springs, N.C./East Burke) and Skyla Marrone (East Northport, N.Y./St. Anthony's) each ended the night with a shot on goal but were all unable to break through Ritter. In total, Marrone and Grasso led the offense with two shot attempts each.

The Golden Eagles held a 5-2 corner kick advantage, with none bigger than their final of the night that set up the game winning goal.

The final conference standings are pending the results of tomorrow night's Yeshiva-Sarah Lawrence contest. Manhattanville is currently tied in points with Mount Saint Mary as both teams earned 20 points on identical 6-3-2 Skyline records. With the Valiants and Knights drawing in their regular season matchup, seeding came down to conference play winning percentage versus the other teams in the standings. While the Valiants and Knights both dropped their games to Mount Saint Vincent and Sarah Lawrence, the conference's top two seeds, Manhattanville's draw versus Farmingdale State will be the difference maker as the Knights were defeated by the Rams. As a result, Manhattanville will be seeing the Golden Eagles once again in Patchogue in the No. 4-5 First Round matchup on Saturday.

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