PINE VALLEY, N.Y. — In a winner-take-all overtime thriller, the Manhattanville College men's hockey team advanced to the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) Final following a 4-3 victory over Elmira College Saturday, Feb. 23 at Murray Athletic Center.
 
The Valiants went on the penalty kill in the first minute, but were able to successfully kill it off. But just prior to the midway point of the first period, Elmira's Brent Lafayette would score the first goal of the game to give the Soaring Eagles a 1-0 lead. The home team would hold that lead through the end of the period, outshooting Manhattanville 15-6 in the first 20 minutes.
 
The teams played evenly to start the second period until the Valiants tied the game at one on a wrist shot by senior forward Nigel Slade, with classmate Jared Martin picking up the assist. The score would remain tied until late in the second, when freshman forward Jarod Lavallee put home a rebound off a shot by senior defenseman Oscar Arfelt to give the Valiants a 2-1 lead going into the third period.
 
The Valiants took an early penalty, but were once again up to the task on the penalty kill. The teams played a balanced third period, with both teams getting their opportunities in the first half of the period but neither able to capitalize. The Valiants got their first power play opportunity late in the third, but took a penalty of their own midway through the man advantage.
 
On the ensuing Elmira power play, Elmira's Matthew Cousino scored to tie the game at two. Neither team was able to score in the final minutes, sending the game to a five-minute sudden-death overtime. Nobody was able to come through in the five-minute overtime, so the game went to a 20-minute mini-game, where the full period would be played regardless of scoring.
 
Elmira took the lead in the first minute of the mini-game, with Nick Ford picking up a goal on a rebound in front of the net. Minutes later, sophomore forward Braedan Cross fired a wrist shot from the slot that beat Elmira goaltender Jake Sabourin to tie the game at one, with Lavallee and sophomore defenseman Tristan Ramage picking up the assists.
 
Late in the mini-game, freshman forward Alex Rowella gave the Valiants the lead once again with a wrist shot that beat Sabourin top-shelf and gave Manhattanville a 4-3 lead in the final minutes. The Golden Eagles then pulled their netmeinder to get an extra skater on the ice in a last-minute attempt to tie the game. The attempt would not pay off, as the Valiants would hold Elmira off in the final minute to claim a 4-3 victory.
 
The Valiants now move on to the UCHC Final, where they will either travel to Utica College or host Nazareth College, depending on the outcome of those two teams' Semifinal series. The UCHC Final dates and time are TBA.