RYE, NY – The Manhattanville University men's hockey team is off and running, completing an opening weekend sweep of SUNY Brockport on Saturday afternoon. The 6-3 win brings the Valiants to 2-0-0 to begin the young campaign (2-0-0 UCHC), while the Golden Eagles drop to 0-2-2 overall (0-2-0 UCHC).
The series sweep marks the first time Manhattanville has opened a season with back-to-back wins since 2015-16.
Following last night's 5-4 opener, there was no shortage of offense for the second-straight outing at the Playland Ice Casino. The visitors struck first three minutes after opening puck drop when Matt Anastasio finished off a feed from Ben Saurbaugh to spot Brockport the early lead. The Valiants responded with 1:18 left in the opening period as Johno Hoins notched his first point of what would be a career-high four point outing, scoring the equalizer from Nicholas Rogers on Manhattanville's second power play of the day.
Defense took a backseat during the five-goal second period, opening with a Mitchell Watson tally from Lane Paddison and Lucas Baksay 6:45 into the new frame. Brockport pulled back even as Schuyler Flansburg scored from Chase Maxwell at 9:07, but the home side needed just 37 seconds to reestablish the advantage. Ryan McKenna finished a pass from Hoins to put Manhattanville back in front with a lead that held the rest of the contest.
With 4:22 left in the second, Nicholas Rogers collected a loose puck in the neutral zone in the closing seconds of a Manhattanville power play. The sophomore danced through Golden Eagle defenders to be one-on-one with David Filak, beating the Brockport netminder with his second goal in as many days. The Golden Eagles delivered the final strike of the period with Michael Meredith intercepting a pass from behind the Manhattanville net, firing it into the open cage to make it a one-score game heading into the final 20 minutes.
After the Valiants were assessed a cross checking penalty in the final seconds of the second, Brockport had 1:53 with the man advantage to open up the third period. Numbers meant little to the home side, however, as Manhattanville was able to set up shop in the offensive end. Hoins fired a pass from behind the Golden Eagle cage to find Corey Popowcer all alone in the far circle, firing a shot home for the first shorthanded goal of his three-year collegiate career.
Hoins capped off his stellar night with one last insurance tally with 4:57 remaining in regulation, finishing a 3-on-2 breakout by burying Tristan D'Elia's pass into the netting.
William Billequey was solid in net, making 33 saves to earn his first collegiate win. The sophomore held Brockport scoreless in the third period with his final eight saves of the night.
Brockport led the faceoff battle, 35-27. Paddison found the most success on the dot for the Valiants with nine draw wins.
The Valiant PK unit was flawless, holding Brockport scoreless on six opportunities and surrendering just seven total shots alongside the shorthanded tally. Conversely, Manhattanville finished 2-of-5 with the man advantage with nine total shots.
Up Next
After welcoming one of the UCHC's newest members with a pair of losses this weekend, the Valiants will look to do the same against the other new addition to the conference next week. Manhattanville heads to Geneseo for a two-game series starting on Friday at 7 p.m.