ASTON, Pa. - In a battle of the two top teams in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) South Division on Saturday afternoon, the Neumann University women's ice hockey team fell to Manhattanville College by a score of 3-1.
 
Jeannie Padden was the lone goal scorer for the Knights in the loss, while Helen Cooney made 41 saves in goal.
 
As expected in a battle of two top teams, the first frame was a very evenly played affair. Manhattanville held the shot advantage at 18-9 thanks to a pair of power plays in the opening 20 minutes, but Cooney was outstanding in the opening frame with 17 saves. The Valiants put just one puck past the senior net-minder, taking an early 1-0 lead at the 11:38 mark. The lead would be short-lived though, as the Knights did not take long to answer back. Using their one power play of the period, the hosts struck back with an equalizer with 3:33 left in the frame, as Padden corralled a loose puck from a Mollie Johnson point shot and deposited it into the back of the net to make it 1-1 heading to the second.
 
Despite entering the second stanza with momentum from the late first period goal, the Knights could not sustain it. The Valiants took control of the contest with two goals less than three minutes apart midway through the frame to jump out to a 3-1 advantage. Neumann had some excellent chances to get back into the game via the man advantage, but could not solve the excellent play from the Manhattanville goaltender. Sid Squires and Katelyn Brown were both robbed on point blank efforts, while another Brown shot later in the period clanked off the crossbar as the game moved to the third with the visitors leading 3-1.
 
Neumann fought hard to find the two goals it needed to tie, but despite outshooting the Valiants by a count of 13-10, the Knights would not light the lamp again. The hosts pulled Cooney for an extra attacker for the final 2:27 of the game but Manhattanville locked things down and kept the Knights off the board as they held on for the 3-1 conference win.
 
Neumann (10-12-1, 7-6-1 UCHC) will move to the final weekend of the season needing two wins to clinch the second seed in the UCHC South. The Knights will host Chatham University at 4:00 PM on Friday, February 21st, then wrap up their regular season on Saturday, February 22nd with senior day versus Lebanon Valley College at 2:00 PM.