PURCHASE, N.Y. – Despite trailing by as many as six goals late in the third quarter, the Manhattanville College women's lacrosse team completed an incredible comeback on Wednesday evening, scoring seven fourth quarter goals to defeat Saint Joseph's University (Long Island) by a final of 15-13. The victory is the third in a row for Manhattanville as the Valiants jump ahead of the Golden Eagles in the conference standings for fourth place with a 3-3 Skyline Conference record and a 4-8 overall mark.
After being held scoreless in the second quarter and the Golden Eagles on a 7-0 run, it appeared that Saint Joseph's was poised to run away with this one. However, the Valiants displayed tremendous resiliency to claw their way back into the game, scoring 10 goals over the final 17:33 of play to complete the comeback and earn the victory.
It was a phenomenal offensive performance by
Kerry Carr (New Hartford, N.Y./Millbrook School) who led the team with six goals, her highest goal total in a game over her two seasons at Manhattanville. Carr also led the team with nine draw controls.
Maura Kelly (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) tied her season best with four goals of her own.
Lara Keenan (Montgomery, N.Y./Valley Central) earned her sixth hat trick of the season with a three-goal night, while
Brialee Logue (Hampton, N.H./Winnacunnet) found her way into the offensive game with a team-high three assists.
The Golden Eagles wasted no time getting things started, taking a 1-0 lead 15 seconds off the opening draw on an Emily O'Mara goal. Just over a minute later, the Golden Eagles double their lead as Melissa Newman netted her first in what would be a six goal night. While Saint Joseph's threatened to run away with things early, the Valiants were able to swing momentum back on their side with four straight goals. Logue set up Carr with 12:10 left in the quarter before earning the assist on Mackenzie Orf's second goal of the season 50 seconds later. Carr struck again with 7:22 on the clock before Keenan scored her first. O'Mara put an end to the run with the final goal of the stanza, sending the Valiants into quarter two nursing a 4-3 lead.
Following the back-and-forth first period, the second was anything but. Holding an 11-8 shot advantage in the period, the Golden Eagles blanked Manhattanville while scoring four times. Newman began to take over with four points in the period, setting up Jamie Trowbridge with an assist before scoring three of her own, including a man-down tally. As the halftime horn sounded, the Valiants trailed 7-4.
While Kelly would score her first of the night midway through the third quarter, the junior's score came sandwiched between four Saint Joseph's tallies that made the score 11-5 in favor of the visitors with just over three minutes remaining in the period. With 2:33 left on the clock, Kelly notched her second of the night. The goal kickstarted a late minute surge, as Kelly would sett up Carr with an assist while down a player 57 seconds later before Carr scored one more, this time unassisted, to close out the period with the Valiants suddenly back within three.
The Golden Eagles were determined to hold on the lead as Newman struck again to begin the fourth. It took Logue 14 seconds to respond with a goal of her own, but O'Mara put Saint Joseph's back up by four with 13:36 to go in regulation. Flipping the script form the second quarter, the Valiants fired 11 shots to Saint Joseph's eight as Manhattanville began their comeback. Carr and Keenan scored 50 seconds apart to cut the lead in half with 12 minutes to go. It would be Kelly next on the scoreboard with 8:41 to go before Carr struck again 15 seconds later to tie the game up at 13-13. Keenan then delivered the Valiants their first lead since the start of the second quarter with her 28
th goal of the year. Kelly officially put the game on ice with 4:11 to go with goal no. 22 of the season as Saint Joseph's was unable to mount a response to the explosive attack from the Valiants.
Britney Sirota (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) made 10 saves to preserve the win in net for the Valiants, her sixth game this year with a double-digit save total. Logue ended the night with a season-high seven ground balls to lead Manhattanville, while
Abbey Playle (Reading, England/Leigh High School),
Kasey Molito (Whitman, MA/Whitman-Hanson Regional) and
Ally Petricca (New Hyde Park, N.Y./New Hyde Park Memorial) each had four on the night. Playle also had a season-high four caused turnovers, tied with Carr for the team lead in the win.
Up Next
The regular season comes to a close on Saturday as the Valiants head to Newburgh to take on Mount Saint Mary at noon.
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