Boxscore

RYE, N.Y. – Sophomore Brendan Turner (Tisdale, Sask./Lloydminster Bobcats (AJHL)) and freshman Brian Elser (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./Bay State Breakers (EJHL)) both scored a pair of goals as the #6 Manhattanville men's hockey team used a pair of tallies late in the third period to put away Morrisville State College, 6-3, in a testy non-conference contest on Sunday afternoon at Playland Ice Casino.

Turner bookended the contest with special-teams goals, as he started the contest with a shorthanded tally and then capped the scoring with a power-play goal. Elser, meanwhile, netted even-strength tallies in the first and third periods on the way to his third multi-goal game in the last five contests. Junior Marcus von Sydow (Stockholm, Sweden/Djugarden J20 (SWE)) also had a great game for the home team, picking up a career-high three assists on the day.

Junior Pierre-Olivier Lemieux (Rimouski, Que./Neepawa Natives (MJHL)) picked up his 10th win of the year in goal for Manhattanville (12-3-1, 1-3-0 ECAC West), turning aside 20 of 23 shots as the Valiants posted a 28-23 edge in shots over the Mustangs. Caylin Relkoff made 22 saves but suffered the loss for Morrisville State (6-5-1, 5-2-1 SUNYAC).

As evidenced by Turner's two tallies, special teams played a big role in Sunday's contest, as the two squads spent plenty of time on the man advantage thanks to a combined 24 penalties. Manhattanville went 2 for 8 on the power play, while Morrisville State scored a pair of man-up tallies but also came away empty on 10 other attempts and allowed a shorthanded goal as well.

Nearing the midway point of the first period, Manhattanville struck first while down a man at the 9:43 mark. Junior Niclas Wennerlof (Gothenburg, Sweden/Frolunda Indians (SWE)) won a puck on the near side of the ice in the defensive zone and fired a cross-ice pass that found Turner for a breakaway attempt, which the sophomore deposited past Relkoff for his second of the year.

The Valiants doubled their lead 4:06 later, when freshman Mike Henrici (North Haven, Conn./Capital District Selects (EJHL)) notched his third of the year by tipping home a shot from the point by senior Sasha Romanenko (Kharkiv, Ukraine/Hebron Academy). Freshman Adam Young (Edmonton, Alta./Grande Prairie Storm (AJHL)) also picked up an assist on the score, which gave the home team a 2-0 lead that it took into the first intermission.

After a scoreless second period, the two teams then exploded for seven goals in the final 20 minutes. Elser gave Manhattanville a seemingly comfortable three-goal lead 5:09 into the final frame, taking a feed from von Sydow and finding the net. Morrisville took one goal off the lead 1:06 later on Geoff Matzel's team-leading 10th of the year, but the Valiants responded on the power play at the 8:23 mark thanks to sophomore Ron Smith (North Delta, B.C./Nanaimo Clippers (BCHL)), who found the rebound of a von Sydow shot in front and guided it into an open cage.

The Valiants seemed to be in firm control of the contest after Smith's tally; however, after 10 straight kills the penalties finally came back to haunt the Valiants, as two infractions led to a 5-on-3 goal by Taylor Vince and a subsequent 5-on-4 tally from Rob Sgarbossa that suddenly brought the visitors to within one at 4-3 with 4:03 remaining.

That one goal lead did not last long, however, as Elser took a pass from classmate Luc VanNatter and ripped a shot past Relkoff just 32 seconds later, giving the home team some breathing room once again. Facing a two-goal deficit late, Morrisville lost its discipline and took three penalties, resulting in a man-up goal by Turner from von Sydow with 27 seconds left on the clock that sealed the win.

Manhattanville will look to complete an unblemished non-conference slate and also pick up the program's 200th career victory on Thursday night, when the Valiants travel to Milton, Mass., to take on Curry College at 7:35 p.m. Live audio coverage on WMVL 88.1 FM will start at 7:20 p.m.