Galloway, NJ – Stockton University (5-2) exploded for an early 8-1 lead and had to hold on for a 13-11 victory over Manhattanville (2-4) on Saturday afternoon. Michaella Butrico (South Plainfield/South Plainfield), Kristen Russo (Wayne/Wayne) and Melanie Patterson (Jackson/Jackson Liberty) led the Ospreys with three goals each.
 
Patterson opened the scoring at 28:16 with her first tally of the day, then Russo hit the back of the net 1:15 later for a quick 2-0 lead. At 23:12, Russo scored again followed by a pair from Butrico in a span of 3:14 to increase the margin to 5-0 in favor of the Ospreys.
 
After a Valiants marker, Gaby Ojeda (Galloway/Absegami), Russo and Patterson made it 8-1, and it looked like Stockton would cruise to a win. Manhattanville then scored the last two goals of the first half to cut the margin to 8-3 at the break.
 
The Valiants turned up the pressure on Stockton during the second half by outscoring the Ospreys by an 8-5 margin. They tallied the first score of the period to slice the lead in half at 8-4. Two goals by Nicole Jandras (Egg Harbor Twp./EHT) extended the lead to 10-4 for some breathing room. Jandras' goals were assisted by Butrico and freshman Michelle Wells (Brick/Brick Memorial), who scored her first career point.
 
The visitors were relentless in their play as they hit the net three times to slice the lead to 10-7. Ojeda and Butrico scored to make it 12-7 with 9:43 remaining, but Manhattanville answered again with three more markers for a 12-10 Stockton advantage. That was as close as the Valiants would get as Patterson sealed the game with a free position goal for a three-goal margin at 13-10.
 
Manhattanville scored once more with 1:26 left in regulation, but time ran out and Stockton escaped with the victory at 13-11.
 
In addition to their hat tricks, Russo and Butrico, along with Wells and Danielle Graham (Cherry Hill/Cherry Hill West) dished one assist each. Russo grabbed eight draw controls while Amanda Scarpa (Manalapan/Freehold Twp.) led the defense with three caused turnovers.
 
Freshman goalkeeper Stevie Ader (Califon/Voorhees) played the first 45:44 and made three saves in garnering the win. Maura Twiggs (Ocean City/Ocean City) finished up in net, kicking out two shots in her first action of the season.
 
For Manhattanville Melissa O'Mara and Carly Weiss scored a game-high four goals each, with O'Mara dishing two assists for six points on the day. O'Mara also caused three turnovers, grabbed four draw controls and five ground balls. Goalkeeper Alex Breen made 13 saves in net for the Valiants.
 
The Ospreys will travel to Arlington, VA for their next game against Marymount University on Tuesday. Game time is set for 4 pm.