EDWARDSVILLE, Pa. – It was a history-making win for the Manhattanville College women's lacrosse team on Tuesday afternoon as the Valiants are off to a 5-0 start for the first time in program history.
An outright dominant display in Pennsylvania led the Valiants to a 20-2 victory at Wilkes as Manhattanville remains a perfect 5-0 to open up the season. The win surpasses the previous best start to a women's lacrosse season from 2009, when the Valiants won four straight to begin the year before suffering their first loss.
It was also the first time Manhattanville put up 20 goals in two years, last reaching the mark in April 2021 against Mount Saint Mary.
Marisa D'Angelo (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) and
Kerry Carr (New Hartford, N.Y./Millbrook School) led the charge with seven points apiece, posting identical statlines of five goals and two assists. The Valiants' leading attack tandem rank in the top three in the Skyline in goals and have been invaluable parts to Manhattanville's red-hot start to the year.
Fresh off her Skyline Rookie of the Week win,
Pietra Cabral (Mineola, N.Y./Mineola) scored a season-high six points on three goals and three assists, both setting new personal bests. Cabral's classmate and fellow Rookie of the Week honoree
Kaci Pierce (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) scored twice with a pair of assists.
The Valiants set the tone in the first quarter, scoring all seven of the period's tallies. Mackenzie Orf got the fun started 1:18 into the game, scoring from Pierce. D'Angelo would score her first two of the game before Carr got involved in the scoring with a shorthanded goal from Pierce. After logging the two helpers, Pierce got into the goal column via Cabral to put Manhattanville up 5-0 with just 6:39 off the clock. D'Angelo added a shorthanded goal to collected a first period hat trick before Carr capped off the quarter's offensive eruption with her second on the game to put the Valiants up 7-0.
The run swelled to 11 unanswered goals to open up the game as the Valiants continue to fire on all cylinders. D'Angelo scored back-to-back unassisted goals before
Abbey Playle (Reading, England/Leigh High School) notched her first goal of the season from Cabral. Carr capped off the 11-0 run with 7:44 left in the half with her third of the affair. Wilkes would finally find a way onto the scoreboard with 6:05 left in the half via Breanne Fulling, but Cabral responded before half's end to give the Valiants a 12-1 advantage through the opening 30 minutes.
Cabral and Pierce added onto the lead to begin the third quarter before Wilkes' Sydney Bernardi netted the last goal of the period to move the score to 14-2 in favor of the Valiants. The Manhattanville defense pitched another shutout in the fourth quarter, scoring six unanswered goals to end the day.
Maura Kelly (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) and Carr scored twice each over the final 15 minutes while Orf and Cabral added one last goal apiece.
Britney Sirota (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) continues to play solidly in net as she allowed a season-low two goals in the win. The senior netminder made eight saves to secure the win, lowering her goals-against average to 6.60 on the season, the best in the Skyline amongst all goalies to play multiple games.
In addition to her first goal of the season, Playle collected a team-high five ground balls.
Ally Petricca (New Hyde Park, N.Y./New Hyde Park Memorial) added four while Carr and Pierce finished with three each. Carr would also cause three turnovers and won six draw controls, second only to Playle's eight.
Up Next
The Valiants will look to add onto the historic start to the year on Saturday when the team returns home to host King's at noon.
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