PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville University field hockey team continued what has been a successful homestand, logging a second-straight win with a 4-2 victory over Sage on Wednesday evening. The win improves the Valiants' record up to 3-6 on the season, while the Gators fall to 0-6.
Despite controlling a majority of the chances in the contest, holding a 25-8 shot discrepancy, the Valiants found themselves down at the halftime intermission. Manhattanville opened up the scoring in the closing minutes of the first quarter as
Shannon Keena (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) knocked in a bouncing cross from
Taylor Benedetto (East Yaphank, N.Y./William Floyd). The goal was Keena's second of the season and allowed the Valiants to carry a lead into the first intermission.
After being outshot 6-1 in the opening 15 minutes, the Gators came to life in the second quarter. Sage would be the beneficiaries of three penalty corners in the period, scoring on a pair of them. The first came just 80 seconds into the period as Alexa Wentz fired in a pass off the stick of Cheyanne Zobel. Five minutes later, the duo reversed roles as Zobel buried Wentz' feed into the cage to put the Gators in front 2-1.
The Valiants regrouped at the halftime break and came out looking more like the first quarter versions of themselves. Manhattanville fired eight shots in the period, including five over the first six minutes. The attack finally broke through in the 39
th minutes as the Valiants had numbers on a breakaway opportunity. It was a 5-on-3 charging towards the Gator net where Benedetto passed another center attempt to
Fiona Doherty (Clarkstown, N.Y./Clarkstown South), crashing towards the cage. The sophomore gently tipped the ball past a diving Jaia Caron in the Sage net to tie the game up 2-2 on her second goal of the year, making it back-to-back games with a tally.
The score remained even heading into the fourth quarter as the Valiants continued to dominate possession and offensive opportunities. Manhattanville outshot Sage 15-3 over the second half, and while the numbers weighed heavily in the favor of the Valiants, it was the Gators coming out in the fourth with a strong attack. Sage put three shots on net in the span of a minute with less than 11 minutes to play.
Hannah Doherty (Clarkstown, N.Y./Clarkstown South) stopped a pair of the shots, while
Sabina Cosmo (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) supplied the stop on the third with a defensive save.
The Valiants survived the barrage and got a golden opportunity to go back in front after a Gator yellow card put the home team up a player for five minutes with 6:07 left to play. Manhattanville cashed in soon after off a penalty corner, with
Keira Guinan (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) deflecting Cosmo's feed into the net to put the Valiants up 3-2 with 5:33 remaining. Guinan has been on fire offensively for the last two weeks, scoring four times in the last five games to climb atop the team leaderboard.
Manhattanville added an insurance tally as the woman-advantage continued as Cosmo scored her second goal of the season off Keena's assist in the middle of traffic with two and a half minutes to play. The remaining time ran off without any further excitement as the Valiants earned back-to-back wins for the first time since Sept. 2022.
Doherty earned the win in net, coming in for the second half and playing a scoreless 30 minutes. The sophomore made two saves to earn her second win of the season and lowered her goals-against average to 1.77.
Cat Morgan (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay Senior) made the start and played the first half, allowing the two goals and making one save.
The Valiants earned a 10-8 penalty corner advantage in the contest.
Up Next
The Valiants look to put the finishing touches on a perfect 3-0 home stretch when they return to the field next Saturday, hosting King's on Oct. 5 at 4 p.m.
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