RYE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College women's hockey team was defeated for the first time this season on Tuesday evening, dropping a 2-1 contest to Trinity College. With the non-conference loss, the Valiants drop to 6-1-0 overall.

On a night where the Valiant offense was limited to a season-low 19 shots, Franny Gerardi (Yonkers, N.Y./Selects Academy) did everything she could to give her teammates an opportunity on the other side of the ice. The senior goaltender made a season-high 43 saves against a potent Trinity attack. While she would be tagged for her first allowed goals of the season, both coming in the second, Gerardi still holds a steallar goals-against average of 0.40 and a save percentage of .981 for the year.
 
The first period was a quick back and forth between the teams, moving from offense to defense and back again. The Bantams outshot the Valiants 17-7 during the first 20 minutes while neither team could score. 
 
The Valiants then fell behind in the second period after Trinity's Jenny Guider scored the first goal of the night, unassisted. Seven minutes later, the Bantams would get some insurance as Martina Exnerova would score another off of assists from Claudia Capone and Erin DeMarco.

Manhattanville would respond four minutes later to get on the board. In the middle of a power play, Trinity's Anne Levia would be called for a delayed penalty. The Valiants maintained control of the puck, allowing Gerardi to come off for an extra attacker. The additional skater made a difference as Grace Genest (Wake Forest, N.C./The Gunnery (Conn.)) was able to fire home a feed from Lindsay Reyes (Chino Hills, Calif./SUNY Cortland) to make it a one score game.

That would be as close as the Valiants would get, however, as the Bantams outshot the Valiants 15-3 in the final 20 minutes. While the Manhattanville defensive unit hung tough, the lack of scoring chances in the offensive zone resulted in the Valiants being saddled with their first loss of the year.
 
Despite the loss, the Valiants dominated the faceoff circle, winning 36 draws to Trinity's 28. Morgan Miller (St. Augustine, Fla./Gilmour Academy) led the team with 21 draws, while Annie Niedermier (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame) had eight. Gabbie Cox led the team in both shots taken and blocked, ending with five apiece.
 
Manhattanville went 1-for-7 on the power play, firing 8 shots overall and scoring a goal. On the other side of the ice, the Valiants went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill against the Bantams. 
 
After the quick holiday break, the Valiants will hit the road and take on Wesleyan University on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.