PURCHASE, N.Y. – A nine-goal first period by the Montclair State Red Hawks was enough to upend the Manhattanville University women's lacrosse team on Saturday afternoon, 24-9. With the loss, the Valiants fall to 3-7 on the season.
It would be a hot start for the Valiants as Colleen MacNeil (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) would get Manhattanville on the board first early at 48 seconds as Montclair State's Norah Monaghan responded with a man-up goal shortly after at 4:48. Meghan DeBellis (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield) then tallied one of her own to get the Valiants back on top, 2-1. The Red Hawks would piece together a brilliant first quarter with the time remaining as they scored eight straight goals to take a 9-2 lead.
Manhattanville would get scoring going in the second quarter with a pair of goals from MacNeil to bring it within five. Montclair State's momentum led them through the rest of the first half, finding the back of the net with three straight goals. Breaking up the Red Hawks' offensive display, Kaci Pierce (Niantic, Conn./East Lyme) scored her first of the contest followed by a pair from Montclair State's Chelsea Stack and Cara McCartney. DeBellis scored her second of the day on a man-up opportunity to bring the score to 14-6 as the Valiants still trailed early. One more goal would be scored for the Red Hawks as they led 15-6 heading into halftime.
The second half started with a pair for Montclair State as the Valiants continued to claw their way back with another goal from DeBellis as Manhattanville found their biggest deficit of the day down 10. The back-and-forth affair occurred as Monaghan scored followed by Pierce then the Red Hawks' Lexi Robinson. Montclair State led 19-8 going into the fourth quarter.
In the final quarter of regulation, the Red Hawks scored four straight goals to open play and silence the Valiants. It would be a game low three shots as MacNeil scored the lone goal of the quarter at 13:30 before Stack found the back of the net to secure the win for Montclair State, 24-9.
The Red Hawks dominated in all categories as they outshot the Valiants, 47-19 while winning 19 draw controls to Manhattanville's 16. They would grab 23 ground balls as the Valiants tallied nine.
Jacee Russello (Hope Valley, R.I./North Kingstown Senior) made 10 saves on the day, allowing 24 goals in the loss. She ends the week with a 15.66 goals-against average and .329 save percentage. She adds a pair of ground balls to her stat line.
The Valiants are back at home on Wednesday as they take on Purchase College at 7 p.m. for their One Love Dedication game.
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