The Manchester Freedom hosted the Baltimore Nighthawks in Independent Women's Football League action Saturday afternoon at Manchester West Stadium. Baltimore's Makita Roman rushed for over 160 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Quarterback Amanda Platt passed for four more, en route to a 49-0 Baltimore victory. The distinction in Division Class was evident early and throughout the game, as Manchester, a Tier 2 team, has elevated a Division Class for the second straight week to face a Tier 1 opponent.

Under a sweltering sun, with game time temps on the field in the mid 90's, Baltimore displayed a well balanced offense with a punishing running game, and a quality passing game. The Manchester defense kept the game close in the first half. Baltimore led 7-0 after the first quarter, and 19-0 before the break.

The second half featured an unyielding Baltimore defense, returning the ball to the Baltimore offense, and keeping a fatigued Freedom defense on the field. The heat and the Baltimore offense, took its toll on the Manchester defense, as the Nighthawks added four more touchdowns in the second half to finish the scoring at Baltimore 49 Manchester 0.  The Freedom defense was led by Jaime Florence who had 8 tackles. Defensive backs Jen Pirog, Kristina Sharp and Jamie Naylor all played hard, and were busy all afternoon.

While the loss may have hurt Manchester's pride, it will not hurt its divisional record because of the Tier 1 elevation. After the game, Manchester Owner Ray Simoneau added "Yes the loss is tough to take, but we look at this as a positive. We have played the best Tier 1 talent the past 2 weeks, and have competed. This is great preparation for our Tier 2 playoff run." 

Manchester has 2 regular season games remaining on their schedule. They travel to Medway, Massachusetts, to face the New England Intensity June 14th, and will host the Southern Maine Rebels Sunday, June 22 at 4pm.  Manchester has handily defeated each opponent already this season. Currently, Manchester, New England, and Carolina are in a 3-way tie for the Wild Card playoff spot so the team is solely focused on winning in Medway on Saturday. As an offensive lineman stated, "We came away from Medway last year with a loss, but we did not play one of our best games. We will need to compete at a high level on both sides of the ball this week".  Saturday's game in Medway (off Rte 109), is a 1 PM kickoff.