WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The third-seeded Manhattanville College field hockey team was unable to slow down the offensive attack of second-seeded King's (Pa.) College on Wednesday night in the MAC Freedom Tournament semifinals, falling 3-0 at McCarthy Stadium in the team's first trip to the postseason since 2011.
 
The Valiant defense was tested early in the first half as Manhattanville surrendered four penalty corners in the opening 10 minutes of the contest.  Despite the early pressure, Manhattanville was able to come away unscathed. 
 
In the 22nd minute King's broke through for the game's first goal.  After junior Kaitlin Halloran (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown East) made an initial save on a shot from Kelsey Gabriele, the Lady Monarchs leading goal scorer, Brianna DiMaggio, found the back of the cage for the 13th time this season on the ensuing rebound. 
 
Moments later the Valiants found themselves with their first real opportunity of the game, earning a penalty corner with just under 10 minutes remaining.  The shot of senior Bregje Smits (Bussum, Netherlands/Willen de Zwigger College) went just wide of the left post for the team's only shot of the first half. 
 
Early in the second half, the Lady Monarchs put the pressure on the Valiant defense early once again.  Just over three minutes into the half, Gabriele put a loose ball in the back of the cage to give King's a 2-0 advantage with 32 minutes to play.  The lead continued to grow when DiMaggio batted home a ball with 25:27 to play to give the home team a three-goal advantage.
 
Manhattanville struggled to get the offense going all night, being credited with just one shot for the game, while giving up 15 shots to King's.  Halloran made four saves on the evening, but suffered her fifth loss of the season. 
 
The Valiants will find out next week if their season will continue, as the team hopes to earn a berth in the ECAC Division III Tournament. The field is expected to be announced on Monday.