PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College field hockey team dropped a tightly-contested matchup that came down to the wire on Tuesday night, falling to the visiting Western Connecticut State by a final of 2-1. The loss drops the Valiants down to 1-3 on the season.

Trailing 2-0 with less than eight minutes to play, the Valiants began their comeback effort as Megan Keaveney (Clarkstown, N.Y./Clarkstown South) stormed her way through the WestConn defenders from 30 yards out, getting a shot off from the sharp left side of the cage and pushed the ball past Wovles' goalkeeper Kayla Hnasko to cut the deficit in half with her team-leading fourth goal of the year.

The Valiants dominated control of the ball for the remaining 7:49, trying everything to find the equalizer. Manhattanville drew three penalty corners and fired four shots in the closing minutes as WestConn was on its heels. As the horn sounded at the end of regulation, the Valiants were awarded their final penalty corner of the contest. Julia Huertas (Shirley, N.Y./William Floyd) put the ball in the play off the corner onto the stick of Fiona Doherty (Clarkstown, N.Y./Clarkstown South). The rookie ripped a shot from the top of the circle but with Wolves defenders crashing in on her, Doherty's shot sailed wide right, allowing WestConn to escape with the win.

Defense dominated the opening half as the teams combined for just six total shots across the opening 30 minutes. Only Hnasko was tested across the first two quarters, making a save on a shot by Keaveney. The Valiants had a golden opportunity to strike first in the opening quarter as Felicity Williams (Glens Falls, N.Y./Glens Falls) found herself all alone in the offensive zone, but her shot rang off the post and the Wolves were able to avoid any further damage.

Following the scoreless opening half, WestConn broke through seven minutes into the third as Reagan Schoen blitzed her way downfield on a breakaway and muscled a shot past Cat Morgan (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay Senior). That would be one of just two shots the Wolves recorded in the period compared to the six logged by Manhattanville, but it was quality over quantity as Hnasko made three saves in the third to hold Manhattanville scoreless.

The fourth quarter opened with the Wolves killing off the remaining minute-plus from a yellow card they were assessed in the tailend of the third. With the teams back to even strength, a green card to the Valiants put WestConn on the player advantage. The Wolves wasted little time as Schoen scored her second of the game by way of Alessia Callahan just 45 seconds into the two minute penalty. Things continued to get worse for the Valiants as another green card 28 seconds after the goal put the home team down a pair of players while already trailing by two. The defensive unit stepped up to drain out the clock and get back to full strength, allowing Keaveney's goal to kickstart the relentless comeback attempt.

Morgan played a full 60 minutes in the cage for Manhattanville, making a pair of saves in the fourth quarter. The senior goalkeeper holds a 1.14 goals against average in 105 minutes this season.

In all, the Valiants outshot WestConn 15-8, with eight of Manhattanville's shots going on target. Williams' four shots led the attack effort, while Doherty, Taylor Benedetto (East Yaphank, N.Y./William Floyd) and Alyssa Monahan (East Fishkill, NY/John Jay High School) each finished with three.

Penalty corners finished in an 8-4 margin in favor of the Valiants, although Manhattanville did not draw a corner attempt until the second half.

Up Next
The Valiants head to Rhode Island this weekend to take on Roger Williams on Sunday at 1 p.m.

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