ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Opening up the final series of the regular season, the Manhattanville College women's hockey team had their nine-game winning streak come to an end at the hands of the Golden Flyers of Nazareth University, dropping a 2-1 decision. The Valiants, who officially have clinched the No. 3 overall seed in next week's UCHC Conference Championship tournament, fall to 12-10-2 overall and 12-5-2 in the UCHC with the loss.

The setback was the first time the Valiants were not in the win column since Jan. 12's shootout defeat at King's. Nazareth, meanwhile, collects their 11^th straight win as the back-to-back conference champions will carry the No. 1 seed into the postseason for a third-straight year.

The Golden Flyers demonstrated how they've been able to remain the conference's top dogs by outshooting Manhattanville 38-13. Franny Gerardi (Yonkers, N.Y./Selects Academy) put forth a great performance in the crease as she stopped 36 shots to keep the Valiants in the game. Despite the loss, the graduate goalminder added yet another accolade to her highly-decorated collegiate resume as she became the program's career leader in goalie minutes, surpassing 4,357 total minutes between the pipes for the Valiants over the last four seasons.

Nazareth got on the board 3:21 into the contest as a shot from Meredith Boettcher got past Gerardi in the Valiant cage, assisted by Makenna Wiljanen and Zoe Dupuis. The Valiants were held to just three shots on net in the opening period as possession was firmly controlled by the home team.

The Valiants were able to shore things up defensively and hold the Golden Flyers to the lone tally on their 15 first period shots. Manhattanville limited Nazareth's chances in the second and were able to keep the shot discrepancy at 9-7 in favor of the Golden Flyers in the next frame. The Valiants were able to capitalize to tie things up at 14:59 as Molly Sances (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial) scored her fourth goal of the season off an assist from her rookie classmate Harper Weisbeck (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland).

Nazareth shook off the equalizer and regained control of play in the third, outshooting the Valiants 14-3. The Golden Flyers retook the lead 90 seconds into the period as Ingrid Holstad scored via Ivey Lyden and Abby Flanagan. Nazareth successfully shut down the Valiants' offensive chances once back in front. Manhattanville's last shot on target came from Catrina Chinetti (Hyde Park, Mass./Boston Latin Academy), which was turned away by McKinley Hoff at the 10:07 mark. The Valiant attack was unable to set up shop and get a look at net for the remainder of play as the Golden Flyers continued to control the puck in the offensive zone to drain out the clock.

Chinetti led all Valiants with three shots on net. On the faceoff front, Grace Felicio (Holden, Mass./Wachusett Regional) led all skaters across both teams with 12 draw victories on the day, followed by six from Annie Niedermier (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame).

The Valiants went 0-for-1 on their lone power play opportunity in the second, being held without a shot. The Manhattanville penalty kill did their job, holding Nazareth scoreless on three chances on five total shots.

Up Next
The teams wrap up the regular season tomorrow at 1 p.m.

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