PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville University women's lacrosse team led early but a dominant Golden Eagle offense thwarted the Valiants' chances of another conference victory. St. Joseph's Long Island would come out victorious on Manhattanville's home turf, 17-15. With the loss, the Valiants fall to 5-8 overall on the season and 2-3 in Skyline play.

For Senior Night, prior to the first draw control, the team honored Colleen MacNeil (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac), Gianna Mott (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North), and MacKenzie Orf (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Lakeland) for their contributions to the program. Fittingly, all three would contribute on the field in their respective positions during the contest.

The Valiants open up the game in celebratory fashion with five straight goals with a pair from Meghan DeBellis (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield), and one each from MacNeil, Pietra Cabral (Mineola, N.Y./Mineola), and Katherine Stahl (Middletown, R.I./Middletown). The Golden Eagles would respond with a pair of their own from Sabrina Doyle and Kaitlyn Ippolito with both goals happening during a 20 second timeframe. Cabral then scored her second of the night at 9:41 in a man up opportunity. St. Joe's Long Island closed out the first quarter with a goal from Emily O'Mara and Ava Lopez to bridge the gap as the Valiants led, 6-4.

In the second quarter, Manhattanville got on the board first with an early goal from Mott at 17 seconds. From there, it would be four straight goals for the Golden Eagles to take a one goal lead going into the half, 8-7.

It would be a back-and-forth affair for the Valiants and Golden Eagles as the third quarter began. MacNeil would tie it up, 8-8 early before St. Joe's Jamie Trowbridge took back the lead. Manhattanville tied it up once again with another goal from MacNeil. A pair of goals for O'Mara and Doyle gave St. Joe's a two-goal cushion before a man up goal for the Valiants' Sarah Knowles (Pawling, N.Y./Pawling) to bring it back with one. Julia Stolba then added an insurance goal at 8:45 before Stahl brought it back within one. Three straight goals for the Golden Eagles then ended the quarter with a 15-11 lead.

The Valiant comeback was prevalent as Cabral scored 35 seconds into the quarter in a man up opportunity. Stolba scored her second of the night to capitalize on the lead once again. It would be a pair of goals from MacNeil and Lauren Sergeant (Hawthorne, N.Y./Westlake) to bring it back within two before Trowbridge found the back of the net at 12:29. Manhattanville down by three would find themselves man up with a little less than two minutes remaining. Their only success came at 14:41 with a goal from Stahl, ultimately, facing a 17-15 defeat.

In net, Jacee Russello (Hope Valley, R.I./North Kingstown Senior) occupied the crease for a full 60 minutes, making five saves throughout the contest.

MacNeil grabbed nine ground balls, collected nine draw controls, and caused four turnovers as the team's leader in each category.

The Valiants will hit the road for a two-game slate as they face off against Mount Saint Mary on Saturday, Apr. 20 at 12 p.m.

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