PURCHASE, NY (October 13, 2018) – Anna Lacalamita scored the second goal of her career to lead the King's College women's soccer team to an important 1-0 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom victory at Manhattanville College on Saturday afternoon at GoValiants.com Field in Purchase, NY.

The Monarchs (5-7-0, 2-2 MAC Freedom) controlled possession for the majority of the match and out-shot the Valiants (2-10-0, 0-4 MAC Freedom) 25-11. King's picked up their sixth consecutive victory over Manhattanville as they faced the Valiants one last time as conference foes.

M'Ville came out of the gate strong controlling possession for the first couple minutes. The Monarchs settled in and took over the match. Stephanie Corea took the first shot in the seventh minute when she found space a little bit outside the box. Her shot went right at Valiant keeper Alexa Pyatsky for a save. Natalie Poulton put more pressure on Pyatsky in the 12th minute following a cross from Danielle Putnam. Poulton's attempt sailed a little right of the net as Pyatsky came out to grab the ball. A minute later Emma Baumbusch just missed high on a header after a corner kick by Breanna Jacinto.

The Valiants got off their first shot of the match late in the 19th minute as Maya Gonzalez sent the ball well high of the net from the right side of box. King's came right back at the Valiants finding Gillian Coar on the left side for a breakaway. Coar's shot from the top of the box was blocked by a Valiant defender who raced back to keep Coar from an unobstructed view of goal. On the corner kick attempt, Kara Keim received the cross from the left side of the box and sent a shot in on goal that Pyatsky was able to grab.

The Monarchs kept the pressure up and earned yet another corner in the 20th minute. Jacinto got the ball back on the left side following sending the ball in and took a shot at the net. Her attempt sailed wide left before Pyatsky grabbed it. Brigid Sullivan gave Jess Schenfeld her first save of the match in the 26th minute as the junior keeper made an easy save on the attempt from the right side of the field.

Corea had an excellent opportunity in the 32nd minute following a corner kick by Jacinto but her shot from the top of the box was blocked by a Valiant defender. Allison Andrew sent a header wide right on the next corner kick as the Monarchs pushed for the go-ahead goal. KC would have three more great looks at the net in the first half. First, Keim just missed wide left on the left side of the box following a corner kick. Putnam had her shot blocked on the right side following a beautiful cross by Emily Harrington, and then Harrington missed just right of the net from the top of the box.

King's came out of the break and immediately went to work against the Valiants. Jacinto nearly scored in the 52nd minute with a shot right outside box shot. Pyatsky needed to make a diving grab to her left to keep the ball out of the back of the net. The Monarchs scored in the 61st minute when Harrington caused a turnover in the Monarch offensive side on an excellent slide tackle. Putnam picked up the loose ball and sent a cross into the middle of the box when Lacalamita was waiting. Lacalamita put the ball inside the right post for her first goal of the year. The assist was Putnam's third of the year and sixth of her career.

Corea nearly made it a quick 2-0 a minute later following a foul but her free kick from distance just missed high. Abby Castle and Keim put shots on goal in the 65th minute that Pyatsky saved to keep the Monarch advantage at one. The Valaints had a good chance to score in the 67th minute but the Monarch defense blocked an attempt by Bella Beltrami. As they had all match KC responded to a M'Ville attempt with a great look of their own. Andrew nearly increased the King's lead in the 69th minute when a header by Coar found Andrew open a little outside the box and the keeper out of position. Andrew's shot just missed the left post. Sophia Sacknievich had a breakaway shot from the right side that went right at Pyatsky for a save in the 75th minute. Sacknievich had a second attempt a minute later that was also saved by the Valiant keeper. Manhattanville had two shots from distance in the final minutes of the game but neither gave the Monarchs any trouble as Schenfeld picked up the shutout. The first shot went way wide right and the second was from way deep and was an easy pickup for Schenfeld.

The Monarchs received great play from the whole team in limiting the Valiant chances. Harrington played especially well returning from missing the past couple of matches. The sophomore started many of King's scoring opportunities as KC continuously found her open on the left side. Schenfeld made four saves to pick up her first shutout of the season and fifth of her career. The Monarchs continuously were able to get behind the M'Ville defense down each side of the field and set up great scoring opportunities.

King's put 14 shots on goal in the match compared to just four for Manhattanville. The Monarchs took all six corner kicks in the first half.

The Monarchs will look to build off the momentum of the road victory on Tuesday when they travel down the turnpike for another road contest when they will take on DeSales University at 4 p.m. in Center Valley.