Boxscore

RYE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville men's hockey team, ranked 10th in this week's USCHO.com Division III National Poll, scored three of the first four goals of the game in the first period and allowed just nine shots in the final 40 minutes of play in picking up a 3-2 non-conference victory over Connecticut College on Tuesday night at Playland Ice Casino.

Junior Sasha Romanenko (Kharkiv, Ukraine) and freshman Eric Defelice (Chalfont, Pa.) netted their first tallies of the season and freshman Adam Young (Edmonton, Alta.) netted his second for the home team, while both Connecticut College tallies came off the stick of senior Jordan Gray.

All the scoring on Tuesday night came in the first period of play, which suited Manhattanville just fine as the home team went into the first intermission with a 3-2 lead.

The first two scores of the game came in quick succession, as Romanenko scored at the 8:25 mark only to have Gray come back 32 seconds later and tie the score. The Valiant goal came as a result of a nice rush by the senior blueliner, who gained the zone and dropped the puck off to senior assistant captain Mickey Lang (Reno, Nev.), who fired a shot on goal and saw Romanenko continue right to the crease to put away the rebound.

After Gray knotted the score soon after, the Valiant power play unit converted for the sixth consecutive game to put the home team back up a goal at the 12:42 mark. After a faceoff win by freshman Brian Elser (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.), sophomore Brett Skalski (Exton, Pa.) wrapped a puck around the boards all the way to the far point for Young, who collected it and skated toward the middle of the ice before firing a shot into the back of the cage for his second of the year.

Manhattanville kept the pressure on the Camels and eventually doubled its lead less than two minutes later on Defelice's first collegiate tally. After winning a faceoff in the defensive zone, the Valiants methodically moved the puck up the ice and gained an odd-man opportunity that resulted in the freshman forward sending the puck under the pads of Camels' freshman netminder Mike Petchonka at the 14:29 mark. Classmates Luc Van Natter (Fort Erie, Ont.) and Craig Simchuk (Winnipeg, Man.) picked up assists on the score.

Connecticut College got one back before the period ended, however, as Gray netted his second of the frame just as a Manhattanville penalty had expired to get within one. But Manhattanville controlled play for much of the way after that, outshooting Connecticut College by a 21-9 margin over the final 40 minutes on the way to the victory.

Senior netminder Sergiy Sorokolat (Kharkiv, Ukraine) picked up his second win of the year for Manhattanville, turning aside 19 shots – including a beautiful blocker save on the visitors' Sean Curran that would have tied the game in the final 30 seconds. Petchonka made 29 saves in a losing effort for Connecticut College.

Manhattanville (6-3-1, 1-3-0 ECAC West) is back in action this weekend with a pair of games up north, as the Valiants begin a weekend series with SUNY Potsdam on Friday night at 7 p.m. All the action will be audio streamed live on WMVL 88.1 FM starting at 6:50 p.m. Connecticut College (2-3-0, 2-2-0 NESCAC) will host Tufts University on Saturday at 7 p.m.