PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – A 4-0 first quarter was the deciding factor for the Manhattanville College women's lacrosse team on Friday evening, as the Valiants defeated Saint Joseph's Long Island 15-11. The Valiants have now won three straight, improving to 10-3 overall and 3-2 against the Skyline Conference.

Manhattanville held the Golden eagles scoreless through the opening 15 minutes while getting goals from four different players to open up the contest. Maura Kelly (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) scored her first of four on the night 5:49 into the game. The score remained 1-0 for the Valiants until the attack netted three goals over the closing 2:30. Marisa D'Angelo (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) struck first off an assist from Ally Petricca (New Hyde Park, N.Y./New Hyde Park Memorial), 34 seconds before Kerry Carr (New Hartford, N.Y./Millbrook School) found the back of the net. Pietra Cabral (Mineola, N.Y./Mineola) closed out the quarter with a woman-up tally with 74 seconds left in the period.

While Carr continued to scoring run for the Valiants with another woman-up goal to begin the second, Saint Joseph's got into the game with three straight goals in a span of 1:18, moving the score to 5-3 with 8:29 left in the half. While Petricca would stop the Golden Eagle scoring run on a goal from Carr, Saint Joseph's got two more quick scores from Jamie Trowbridge and Courtney Donato to cut the Valiant lead down to a single goal. The Valiants regained some distance with a pair of goals to close out the half, both involving Carr. The Valiants' leading scorer assisted Cabral's second of the game before completing a first half hat trick with her 39^th goal of the year to send the game into the half 8-5 in favor of Manhattanville.

After Trowbridge fired the opening salvo of the third quarter, three straight goals from Carr, Kelly and D'Angelo built the Valiant lead up to 11-6. Emma Lange and Kelly traded goals to move the score to 12-7 with two minutes left in the quarter, but Saint Joseph's struck twice in the closing 39 seconds to cut the lead down to a three goal advantage.

Melissa Newman would pull the Golden Eagles to within two, but a crucial 3-0 run comprised of goals from Sydney Natale (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich), Kelly and Cabral gave the Valiants the separation needed to close out the win. Lange would add one more for the Golden Eagles with 2:29 left to play, but Saint Joseph's would be unable to close the remaining gap as the clock ran dry.

Britney Sirota (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) made 11 saves to preserve the win, her sixth game this season with double-digit saves. The senior netminder climbs into fifth all-time in the program's history in saves with 303 on her career.

Sirota would also finish with a team-high five ground balls in the win. Abbey Playle (Reading, England/Leigh High School) collected four loose grounders while causing three turnovers and winning three draw controls. Kelly added five draw controls, three caused turnovers and three ground balls.

Up Next
The Valiants close out the regular season with three final home games next week. The final stretch begins on Tuesday against Old Westbury at 7 p.m.

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