PURCHASE, N.Y. – A tally early in the first half was the difference maker on Wednesday night as the Manhattanville College women's soccer team was defeated by Farmingdale State 1-0. The loss drops the Valiants to 6-5-3 overall and 3-3-3 in the Skyline Conference, sitting in seventh in the conference standings with a week remaining in the regular season.

Gracie Heilbrun delivered what would prove to be the game-winning goal nine minutes into Wednesday's affair, knocking in a tally off Alyse Rivera's free kick that found its way into traffic in front of the goal. Through the chaos, Heilbrun was able to sneak the shot in past Macey Giard to put the Rams up 1-0. The score held stagnant for the final 81 minutes as the Valiants had their chances but were unable to find the equalizer.

While the Rams outshot Manhattanville 6-5 across the opening 45, the Valiants generated more opportunities with their shots, putting all five balls on net in the half compared to Farmingdale's lone shot on goal. Nadia Parisi (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) made her presence known in the attack zone with four shots on target in the first half, but Hailey Stork was up to the challenge, turning away each of them in her first Farmingdale appearance. Jennifer Xong also put a ball on net in the 38^th minute that Stork successful turned away.

The Valiants generated two more shots on net in the second half, both coming from Megan Leser (Ossining, N.Y./Ossining) in a rapid back-to-back sequence in the 69^th minute, but Stork continued to preserve her clean sheet. As time wound down, the Manhattanville backs got involved in the attack effort, desperate for the tying tally. Caitlin Ward (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown High School) looked to replicate her late heroics from against USMMA last week, but her shot in the 89^th minute rang off the post before her follow up attempt sailed wide right. Surviving the final onslaught, the Rams ran out the rest of the clock to secure a 1-0 win.

Girard finished the night with three saves, all of which came in the second half. With two games remaining in the regular season, the sophomore keeper sits at a 1.14 goals against average and an .826 save percentage.

The Valiants had five corner kicks in the contest compared to the Rams' one.

Up Next
The team will celebrate Senior Day on Saturday, hosting Saint Joseph's Long Island for their home finale at 2 p.m.

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