PURCHASE, N.Y. – A rain-soaked Saturday was made a touch more pleasant with the Manhattanville College women's lacrosse team earning a 15-5 season-opening win over Wilkes. The Valiants have now picked up the win in the opening contest of the season in back-to-back years.

Six different players recorded a goal in the win for Manhattanville, led by five by sophomore attacker Kaci Pierce (Niantic, Conn./East Lyme). Colleen MacNeil (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) and Meghan DeBellis (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield), both playing their first games as Valiants, each scored three times. After being sidelined all of last season, senior captain MacNeil made an impact in her long-awaited Manhattanville debut with three goals and two assists. DeBellis, meanwhile, shined in her collegiate debut, with the rookie also logging a hat trick.

Pietra Cabral (Mineola, N.Y./Mineola) scored twice and finished with a team-high three assists, the third Valiant to end the game with five total points. Gianna Mott (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North) and Sydney Natale (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece.

MacNeil would also make her presence known outside of the scoring column, leading the Valiants with six draw controls, five ground balls and four caused turnovers. The senior's ground ball total was matched by Julia Huertas (Shirley, N.Y./William Floyd), while Natale also logged four caused turnovers. DeBellis logged five draw controls as the Valiants held a 13-11 advantage over Wilkes in the contest.

It was a far from ideal start to the season for the Valiants as Maleah Cobham won the opening draw for Wilkes, leading to Ava Ward scoring from Brooklyn Pedana just 32 seconds into the contest. However, the remainder of the first half would be firmly controlled by Manhattanville as the next seven goals were all scored by the home team.

MacNeil recorded the team's first score of the 2024 campaign with 8:34 left in the quarter, while DeBellis put Manhattanville ahead five and a half minutes later. A low-scoring first quarter drew to a close with one final Valiant tally with 48 seconds remaining, as Natale scored off an assist by MacNeil. The Colonels were limited to just three shots in the quarter following their opening strike.

The Valiants continued their scoring run through the second quarter, building up a 7-1 lead. The first two goals of the frame were notched by Pierce, with Roshni Pawar (Beltsville, Md./CMIT Academy H.S. North) earning the assist on her first tally 49 seconds into the quarter. An unassisted tally be DeBellis had the Valiants up 6-1 with 9:339 left in the half before Pierce completed her second quarter hat trick with a goal from Cabral a touch over a minute later. Wilkes finally snapped their scoring drought with 7:28 left in the half as Pedana scored by way of Mara Adams. The teams would go back-and-forth over the final four goals of the half, with Cabral and Mott scoring unassisted tallies for the Valiants while Anmarie Lebron logged the Colonels' third and final goal of the half from Breanna Fulling.

Manhattanville outscored Wilkes 6-2 to close out the victory, scoring the final four goals of the second half. MacNeil struck for a second time 51 seconds into the third quarter before the Pierce-from-Cabral connection worked again with 7:09 left in the quarter. The Colonels got the two goals back from Morgan Hettesheimer and Pedana, but MacNeil closed out the third quarter scoring with her third of the day, putting the Vals up 12-5.

The final three tallies were all Manhattanville's with Pierce wrapping up her strong outing with her fifth goal once again assisted by Cabral on a woman-up advantage with 8:31 left. Debellis scored her third 68 seconds later from MacNeil, while Cabral scored the team's 15^th goal with 4:36 left in regulation. The goal activated the running clock, which the Valiants were able to drain out to secure the win, 15-5.

Jacee Russello (Hope Valley, R.I./North Kingstown Senior) made her collegiate debut in the cage for the Valiants, making 12 saves in her win. The freshman added three ground balls to her performance.

Up Next
The Valiants' season-opening home stand concludes on Wednesday afternoon when Manhattanville hosts Emmanuel for a 4 p.m. contest.

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