Boxscore

RYE, N.Y. – The goals came early and often on Tuesday night at Playland Ice Casino, and when the dust had settled the #11 Manhattanville men's hockey team escaped with a wild 7-6 victory over Western New England College in a back-and-forth non-conference contest.

Thirteen of Manhattanville's 18 skaters picked up at least one point in the goal-fest, led by a pair of tallies each for senior assistant captain Mickey Lang (Reno, Nev.) and sophomore Brett Skalski (Exton, Pa.). Lang also added an assist for a team-best three points. Junior assistant captain Evan Michalchuk (Edmonton, Alta.) and freshman Eric Defelice (Chalfont, Pa.) chipped in with two assists each as well for the home team.

For Western New England, almost all its offensive production came from the top line: junior Rory Hansen had three goals and two assists for a game-high five points, while freshman Chris Connors had a goal and three assists and junior Kory Grahl added a goal and an assist.

Yet despite a 48-20 edge in shots, the Valiants needed a pair of third-period goals from freshman Louie Balzano (Staten Island, N.Y.) and senior Artem Gumenyuk (Kharkiv, Ukraine) in order to pull out the win. After WNEC had tied the score at five early in the period, Balzano made his first collegiate game a memorable one by beating Golden Bears' keeper T.J. Fatse on a breakaway at 7:49 to put the home team back in front by a goal. Gumenyuk added what turned out to be a huge insurance goal 1:23 later off passes from sophomore Jason Bowles (Elkhorn, Man.) and senior assistant captain Victor Nordenson (Stockholm, Sweden), shuttling the puck through a crowd in front for the score.

Manhattanville never trailed in the game after sophomore Ron Smith (North Delta, B.C.) found the back of the net just 2:19 into the game off a pass from Defelice, the freshman's first collegiate point and the sophomore's second score of the year. The Golden Bears tied the score on three different occasions – at 1-1, 2-2 and 5-5 – but each time the Valiants had an answer to finally put away the pesky visitors.

Two of those response goals came on special teams, as the Valiants went 2 for 7 on the man advantage for the night. Lang gave the home team a 2-1 lead with a power-play tally 8:34 into the first period and he scored again while a man up 9:55 into the second. Lang's second tally was preceded by a shorthanded score off the stick of Skalski, the fourth of the sophomore's career after netting three as a freshman.

Defense – and goaltending – was severely lacking on both sides for most of the night. After senior Sergiy Sorokolat (Kharkiv, Ukraine) got the start in goal for Manhattanville and allowed two goals on eight shots in 28:10 of action, junior Pierre-Olivier Lemieux (Rimouski, Que.) came on in relief and was credited with his third win of the year, despite allowing four goals on 12 shots. WNEC sophomore T.J. Fatse kept his team in the game by making 40 saves.

Manhattanville will need to get its house in order quickly, as the Valiants face a pair of nationally-ranked NESCAC teams this weekend, beginning with a Friday night meeting with #10 Amherst College at 7 p.m. Live audio coverage will begin on WMVL 88.1 FM beginning at 6:50 p.m.