The Misericordia men's soccer team will travel to Manhattanville tomorrow to face the Valiants in the Freedom Conference championship game, at 4 PM.

The Cougars will be looking to defend the conference title they won in 2008, their first year in the league.

MU is 11-4-3 this season, and finished in second place in the Freedom with a 5-1-1 mark. Manhattanville is 13-4-1, including an undefeated 6-0-1 record in conference play.

Manhattanville played at Misericordia earlier this year on Homecoming and won 1-0, thanks to a late goal by Keston George.

George, a midfielder from Trinidad and Tobago, leads the Valiants with nine goals and seven assists while Adam Kent, a striker from London, leads the Freedom Conference with nine assists.

In total, Manhattanville players represent 11 countries: USA, Canada, England, Spain, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Kenya, Senegal, Liberia and Guatemala.

The Valiants play a possession-oriented game, with George orchestrating the attack from center midfield. The Valiants have shut out nine of their last 10 opponents, and Misericordia is allowing less than a goal per game themselves, so scoring chances could be at a premium in this match-up.

Valiant goalkeeper Jason Torres recently had an 803-minute scoreless streak and has an impressive 11 shutouts in 18 starts this year. It will be a compelling showdown of the conference's top keepers, with Misericordia's Andrew Loyd second behind Torres in goals against average this season.

Loyd was the Freedom Tournament MVP in 2008 and was just chosen as the Wendy's Misericordia Athlete of the Month for October after posting a 0.41 GAA in that period.

Midfielder Joey Scanlon scored two crucial header goals in Wednesday's semifinal against Wilkes, and leads the Cougars with 11 goals for the season.

The winner of tomorrow's game gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.