RYE, NY – Wrapping up the weekend series, the Manhattanville College men's hockey team concluded their second consecutive sweep with a 6-3 victory over Lebanon Valley at the Playland Ice Casino on Saturday afternoon. The win pushes the Valiants back above .500 for the year with a 10-9-2 overall record while their mark in UCHC play improves to 9-6-1, officially clinching a berth into the postseason tournament with 28 points on the season. The Valiants currently sit fifth in the UCHC standings.
After last night's finish that came down to the wire, the Valiants had a slightly less stressful go of things in the series finale with the Dutchmen. Manhattanville scored in each of the three periods, including three tallies in the third to close out the win.
The Valiants got things underway with a pair of goals in the first. Corey Popowcer got the party started 8:36 into the period with his first collegiate goal from Artem Mateichenko and Lane Paddison. Later in the period, the Valiants found themselves on their first power play opportunity of the contest. Manhattanville would fire three pucks on net with the man advantage as Dan Barry found paydirt on the third shot, finishing a setup from Dylan Pollak and Mason Emoff. The junior has been on an offensive tear over the past two series, scoring four goals and eight total points in the last four games.
Manhattanville carried the 2-0 lead into the second before AJ Bella put the home squad up by three 10:37 into the period. The junior notched his tenth tally of the campaign from Paddison and Mateichenko as the duo both collected their second helpers of the game. As was the case in last night's battle, the Dutchmen were not ready to go away without a fight. Lebanon Valley got a power play goal from Dylan Gutierrez and an even strength tally from Darion Benchich before the second intermission to send the game into the final 20 minutes with the Valiants protecting a one goal lead.
It would be special teams that helped Manhattanville put the game on ice as two of the Valiants' three third period goals would come on the power play. Pollak would account for the first lamp lighting of the period at 5:33, scoring with the man advantage from Barry and Josh Fletcher. The 4-2 score held until 14:37 had expired from the frame before the Dutchmen got one back as Benchich notched his second score of the game, this time shorthanded. While the Valiants would come up empty on that power play chance, they would convert on their final man advantage of the game with 2:31 to play as James Gregory scored his first goal of the season from Nick Prestia and Bella. Fletcher would put the finishing touches on the game with an empty netter with 14 seconds to go from Noah Bradley and Troy Crosson, completing the sweep of the Dutchmen with the 6-3 win.
After coming on in relief in last night's game, Sebastian Woods got the start on Saturday. The rookie netminder made 32 saves, including an 18 stop effort in the second, to earn his eighth win of the season. Woods holds a 3.01 goals-against average with a .915 save percentage across his 16 games this season.
The Valiants held a 32-30 advantage on the faceoffs in the win. It was another leading effort by Raymond Speerbrecker on the dot, as the sophomore won eight draws.
Manhattanville would finish 3-of-6 on their power play opportunities.
Up Next
The Valiants host their final homestand next weekend as they welcome Chatham to Playland. Puck drop for the series opener is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday.