RYE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College women's hockey team suffered their first loss of the 2024 campaign as the Cardinals of Wesleyan University would come out victorious, 2-1. With the loss, the Valiants have been defeated in three straight games and drop to 3-8-1 overall on the season.

The Cardinals held a 12-9 shot advantage through the first period, with neither team lighting the lamp during that time. Manhattanville would have two strong power play opportunities at the 9^th minute and 19^th minute with four shots fired through four minutes of man advantage.

Action would truly get started in the second period as Wesleyan would dominate on the offensive ice. The Cardinals would once again outshoot the Valiants, 17-5, and score their first goal of the day 11 minutes into the period. Casey Messina would find the back of the net off a dish from Olivia Rubenstein to get Wesleyan on the board. Shortly after, Caroline Kee would add some insurance scoring one of her own to capitalize on the Cardinal lead, staying on top 2-0.

The Valiants would respond in the final period of regulation with a goal from Harper Weisbeck (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland), assisted by Annie Niedermier (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame) and Lindsay Reyes (Chino Hills, Calif./SUNY Cortland) to bring the score back within reach, 2-1. It would come down to two more runs from Weisbeck on the attack but no luck firing off a shot that would find the back of the net. After a Manhattanville penalty at 18:06, the Valiants would end the game playing almost two minutes of defense to keep the Cardinals from scoring another.

Franny Gerardi (Yonkers, N.Y./Selects Academy) had an unbelievable performance in net for Manhattanville as she made 42 total saves, making 15 saves in both the second and third period. After another loss, the goaltender drops to a 2.87 goals-against average with a .918 save percentage.

Catrina Chinetti (Hyde Park, Mass./Boston Latin Academy) fired off a team-high four shots as Gabrielle Cox (Niverville, NY/Ichabod Crane High School), Taylor Willoughby (Camrose, Alberta, Canada/John Maland), and Lulu LePage (Swansea, Mass./Elmira College) each added three shots on the day.  

Wesleyan controlled the faceoff circle, winning 24 draws to Manhattanville's 20. Grace Felicio (Holden, Mass./Wachusett Regional) and Niedermier led the team with eight draws apiece.

The Valiants went 0-for-3 on power play opportunities with five shots taken. On the other side of the ice, they went a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill, holding the Cardinals to seven shots. 

It will be a quick turnaround for the Valiants as they hit the road to take on SUNY Cortland tomorrow night. Puck drops at 7 p.m.

VALIANTS on SOCIAL MEDIA For the latest on Manhattanville Athletics, follow the Valiants via social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads and YouTube. #WeAreValiant #GoValiants