Erin Laird
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Erin Laird's goal gave King's a 1-0 lead and propelled the Lady Monarchs to a 2-0 win over Manhattanville

King's Women's Soccer Clinches 2nd Straight Freedom Conference Tournament Berth with 2-0 Win Over Manhattanville

11/1/2014 4:43:00 PM

Box Score
NOVEMBER 1, 2014

KING'S WOMEN'S SOCCER CLINCHES FREEDOM CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT BERTH WITH 2-0 WIN OVER MANHATTANVILLE

PURCHASE, NY --  Sitting in a four-way tie for the fourth and final Freedom Conference playoff berth, the King's College women's soccer team needed two things to happen in order to claim the final post season spot.  

First, King's had to win its regular-season finale at Manhattanville and the Lady Monarchs did just that with a 2-0 decision.  Second, King's needed crosstown rival Wilkes to either tie or defeat Eastern University.  Wilkes managed a 2-1 road win over Eastern, and, with that, King's clinched the fourth seed and will be competing in the Freedom Conference Tournament for the second straight year.

With the win King's improved to 6-8-2 overall and 3-4 in Freedom Conference play. Manhattanville ended its seaosn at 2-15-1 and 0-6-1 in league competition

After a scoreless first half, King's jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Erin Laird headed in a corner kick off a ball from Katie Witwer just 3:25 into the second half.  King's defense did the job the rest of the way, limiting the Valiants to only three second half shot.  

But with the outcome still in doubt, the Lady Monarchs put the game away when Ivy Nulton struck net after taking a feed from Gabrielle Murphy to provide an insurance goal with just 2:44 remaining to seal the victory.

King's held a 17-7 advantage in shots as well as a 5-3 lead in corner kicks. King's goalie Jessica Natale made four saves while Valiant keeper Dolores Diemicke finished with six saves.

The win left King's in a three-way tie for fourth-place with Wilkes and FDU but the Lady Monarchs earned regular-season wins over both squads to come out on top in the conference tie-breaking criteria.

King's will now face top-seeded DeSales in the Freedom Conference semi-finals Wednesday in center Valley at  time to be announced. King's fell to DeSales 3-2 on October 11 after squandering a 2-1 lead over the final 10 minutes of the match.
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