Boxscore

RYE, N.Y. – Senior assistant captain Mickey Lang (Reno, Nev.) netted a pair of goals and sophomore linemate Scott Hudson (St. Albert, Alta.) added a goal and an assist as Manhattanville defeated Fredonia State University, 5-3, to complete a sweep of the non-conference weekend series on Saturday afternoon at Playland Ice Casino.

Lang, Hudson and senior captain Lem Randall (Yellowknife, N.W.T.) were a potent offensive combination for Manhattanville on the afternoon, as the trio's 17 total shots equaled the amount fired by the entire Fredonia team. The trio combined for five points as the Valiants registered a massive 42-17 advantage in shots against the overmatched Blue Devils.

The Valiants also got a great outing in goal from senior Sergiy Sorokolat (Kharkiv, Ukraine), who despite needing to make just 14 saves made some huge stops down the stretch to keep the game tied and give his team the chance to pull out a victory.

Perhaps the biggest save of the game came early on in the third stanza, when the score was knotted at three and Manhattanville was looking to regain the lead. A defensive lapse led to a breakaway chance by Fredonia's Mat Hehr, but Sorokolat stayed with him as he deked to the near post and smothered the attempt to keep the game tied.

From that point on, the Valiants kept pressure almost continuously on the Fredonia defense and netminder Jeff Holloway. The team fired 20 shots in the period alone in search of its fourth goal, but the score did not come until the 12:49 mark, when sophomore Jason Bowles (Elkhorn, Man.) collected the rebound of a shot from classmate Brendan Turner (Tisdale, Sask.) and stuffed it under Holloway's pads for the score. Sophomore Marcus von Sydow (Stockholm, Sweden) also collected an assist on the eventual game-winner.

After the goal, the home team outshot the visitors by an 8-2 margin, finally icing the game with only 18 seconds left when Lang fired into an open net from center ice off a forced turnover in the neutral zone by sophomore Brett Skalski (Exton, Pa.).

The two teams went into the first intermission tied at two, as Valiant scores bookended a pair of Blue Devil tallies. Sophomore Ron Smith (North Delta, B.C.) got the Valiants on the board first, as he netted the first goal of his career 3:11 into the first period. After a pair of Fredonia power-play scores put the visitors up for the first time all weekend, Manhattanville came back late in the frame, as Randall denied a pass out of the defensive zone and fed Hudson for a quick turn-and-shoot score with 5:33 left in the period.

Lang put Manhattanville up once again with his first of the game at 4:52 of the second period, but Fredonia clawed its way back again less than six minutes later on Alex Morton's second of the weekend. Despite a 22-10 edge in shots after 40 minutes, the Valiants went into the second intermission tied at three before getting their third-period heroics to pick up the victory.

Manhattanville (2-0-0) will get nearly two weeks of practice time in before its next game, when the Valiants return to the site of last year's ECAC West Tournament Championship win to take on Elmira College in the team's ECAC West Conference opener on November 5 at 7 p.m. Fans can listen to all the action live on WMVL 88.1 FM. Fredonia (0-2-0) begins SUNYAC play on Friday night at SUNY Cortland.