MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- Lillee Dougherty (Wakefield, R.I./Portsmouth Abbey School) struck for the Manhattanville University women's hockey team early, but the Valiants could not hold the lead as hosting Wesleyan scored a pair of unanswered goals to hand Manhattanville a 2-1 loss on Tuesday afternoon. Manhattanville suffers their first defeat of 2025 following the contest, dropping to 4-7-2 overall, while the Cardinals improve to 5-6-0.

The Valiants got on the board with their first shot on goal of the afternoon 5:28 into the opening period. Jada Mackinnon (Barrington, Nova Scotia, Canada/King's Edgehill School) fired the puck towards the Wesleyan cage where Dougherty was able to get her stick on it as she crashed towards the crease, sneaking the biscuit past Sami Smith. Abby Kauffman (Hershey, Pa./Hershey / New Jersey Colonials) picked up the secondary assist on the play, Dougherty's first goal of the season and second for her collegiate career.

While Manhattanville nabbed the early advantage, Wesleyan was relentless in their efforts to find the equalizer. After both teams finished with seven shots on goal in the opening period, the Cardinals outshot the Valiants 16-4 in the second. The attack paid off for the home team in the opening minutes of the second as the Cardinals ripped five shots in the opening 2:16 minutes out of the locker room. Mackinnon blocked a pair of the shot attempts while Grace Genest (Wake Forest, N.C./The Gunnery (Conn.)) got her body in front of a third and Olivia Cimorelli (West Deptford, N.J./The Hill School / Ironbound Elite) made a stop on an Amelia Molin shot before Wesleyan broke through the Manhattanville defense on Chrstina Tournas' tally from Beats Tura and Caroline Kee. Cimorelli stood firm over the remainder of the period as the Cardinals continued to let the puck fly with 15 saves to keep the game tied.

Manhattanville's offense had their best showing in the third with a game-high 12 shots on goal as both teams looked to break the 1-1 stalemate in the final frame of regulation. The Cardinals, too, had the most offensive opportunities in the third with 19 shots and were able to score the game-winner with 2:31 left to play off the stick of Kee, assisted by Sam DeLeo and Torunas.

Trailing for the first time and with the clock working against them, the Valiants took six more shots in the closing stages of the game, benefiting from an interference call with 56 seconds left to play. Ali Jolt and Erin Flaherty (Rockland, Mass./Canterbury School) put shots on net during the power play, but Smith was able to turn away both while Katherine Stahl (Middletown, R.I./Middletown) and Taylor Willoughby (Camrose, Alberta, Canada/John Maland) had their attempts blocked away as time ran out on any hopes of closing seconds heroics.

Cimorelli finished with 40 total saves as her record in the crease drops to 2-5-2. The rookie goalie extends her streak of two or fewer goals allowed to six-straight appearances as Cimorelli now holds a 2.21 goals-against average with a .940 save percentage.

Cimorelli was aided by her teammates in front of her blocking 26 total shots. It was Manhattanville's highest blocked shot total since last January's meeting with Wesleyan when the Valiants blocked 31 shots. 12 different players blocked a shot in the contest, led by five from Flaherty and three from each of Mackinnon and Genest.

Annie Niedermier (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame) continued to lead Manhattanville's faceoff efforts with 10 wins on the draw. Wesleyan held a 32-22 advantage as a team on the dot.

Manhattanville went 0-for-3 on the power play with three total shots, two of which came in the game-closing opportunity. Wesleyan went 0-for-4 with 11 shots on their power play chances as Manhattanville is holding the opposition to a .146 success rate with the extra skater.

Up Next
The Valiants return home Saturday afternoon, hosting Rivier at 3 p.m.

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