PURCHASE, N.Y. – After a huge win for the Valiants in the first round, the No. 5 Manhattanville College women's soccer team will head to Bronxville, N.Y. on Wednesday evening to take on No. 1 Sarah Lawrence College for the Skyline Conference Championship Semifinals at 7 p.m. 
 
 
Women's Soccer Preview: No. 5 Manhattanville College at No. 1 Sarah Lawrence College | 
            Skyline Conference Championship Semifinals | Wed. 7 p.m. | Live Stats | Video
 
How We Got Here 
 
After a 1-0 regular season loss against St. Joseph's University-Long Island, the Valiants would finish the season 6-9-2 overall and seeded fifth for the Skyline Conference Championship. This would set up a first-round rematch between Manhattanville and the No. 4 Golden Eagles. 
 
The Valiants secured the Skyline First Round victory against St. Joseph's-Long Island on Saturday afternoon, 2-1 with goals from seniors Natalie Aracena (Bronx, N.Y./Riverdale Kingsbride Academy) and Izzy Rosa (Shelton, Conn./Shelton). The team will move onto the Skyline Semifinals to take on the No. 1 seed of Sarah Lawrence on Wednesday evening.   
 
Offensively, the Valiants have been led by veterans Aracena, Kelly Barrera (Port Chester, NY/Port Chester High School), and Jennifer Xiong (Connelly Springs, N.C./East Burke), along with rookie Morgan Passley (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville). Aracena finished the regular season with 16 points, 5 goals, and 6 assists while ranking 13^th in shots taken and 11^th in assists throughout the Skyline Conference. Barrera finished the regular season with 17 points, seven goals, and three assists while Xiong finished with 16 points and five goals. In her first season, Passley finished with 15 points, seven goals, and one assist. 
 
Macey Girard (Branford, Conn./Branford), the last line of defense for Manhattanville had a stellar rookie season, finishing first in the conference with six shutouts, third with a .789 save percentage, fourth with 5.94 saves per game, and fifth with a 1.588 goals against average. 
 
The Gryphons claimed the first seed after finishing 10-0-1 in conference play and 13-3-2 overall. They received a first-round bye and will now have home field advantage for semifinals against Manhattanville. 
 
While this becomes the first regular-season conference title for any sport at Sarah Lawrence, the team is deserving with its depth and potential all over the conference leaderboards. Cora Colvin finishes fourth in the conference with 33 points and 13 goals, fifth with seven assists, and sixth with 67 shots and 32 on goal. Viktoria Balbin finishes fourth with 70 shots and tenth with 28 on goal, and 12^th with six assists. 
 
In goal for the Gryphons, Bridgette Lee finished first in the conference with a .762 goals against average, fourth with three shutouts, fifth with a .784 save percentage, and last with only 1.71 saves per game.
 
Last Time Out 
 
The Gryphons were last at GoValiants.com Field on Oct. 12, defeating Manhattanville 3-1 to remain undefeated in conference play and taking first place in conference points. The Valiants would get on the board in the 75^th minute as Passley headed in a corner kick from Aracena and the team would get ten shots off throughout the match with only three on goal. Girard would make one save in the loss, stopping the only Sarah Lawrence scoring chance in the second half. 
 
Sarah Lawrence would explode offensively to score three goals in the span of six minutes during the first half. Viktoria Balbin, Grace Carter, and Cat Faville contributed to the Gryphon win. 
 
Team Leaders 
 
Manhattanville 
 

• Points: Barrera (17), Aracena (16), and Passley (15) 
• Goals: Barrera and Passley (7), Aracena and Xiong (5) 
• Assists: Aracena (6), Barrera and Leser (3) 
• Goals Against Average: Girard (1.50) 
• Save Percentage: Girard (0.792) 

 
Sarah Lawrence 
 

• Points: Colvin (33), Balbin (20), and Carter (15)
• Goals: Colvin (13), Balbin (7), and Cadieux (6) 
• Assists: Colvin (7), Balbin and Matalus (6) 
• Goals Against Average: Lee (0.76) and Pfeiffer (0.93) 
• Save Percentage: Pfeiffer (0.632) and Lee (0.784) 

 
History 
 

• All-Time Record vs Sarah Lawrence: 1-2
• Streak: Manhattanville L1
• Series Record at Sarah Lawrence: 1-1
• Last Three Meetings 
  • 10/12/22: Sarah Lawrence 3, Manhattanville 1
  • 10/19/21: Manhattanville 3, Sarah Lawrence 0 
  • 10/26/19: Manhattanville 0, Sarah Lawrence 1