Box Score Box Score
NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Manhattanville offense came out firing for a second straight game on Tuesday night, as the Valiants stormed past Connecticut College, 6-2, in a non-conference men's hockey matchup at Dayton Arena.
Despite being on the wrong end of a 37-28 shot disparity, the Valiants kept pressure on the Connecticut College defense all game long. And at the other end of the ice, senior Pierre-Olivier Lemieux (Rimouski, Que./Neepawa Natives (MJHL)) turned aside 35 of 37 shots to move his record to 3-2-1 on the year.
Sophomore Brian Elser (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./Bay State Breakers (EJHL)) had two goals to lead the Manhattanville offensive attack. Junior Scott Hudson (St. Albert, Alta./Sherwood Park Crusaders (AJHL)) and freshman Mark Rivera (Belmar, N.J./Springfield Pics (EJHL)) added a goal and an assist each in the win, while senior captain Evan Michalchuk (Edmonton, Alta./Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BCHL)) also had a multi-point game with a pair of assists.
Rivera got the scoring started on the second shift of the evening, as he took a pass from Hudson in front of the Connecticut College net and beat Andrew Margolin for his second of the year just 54 seconds into the opening frame.
The score remained the same for the rest of the first period, but the Camels netted the equalizer 73 seconds into the second period after J.J. McGregor tipped home a Sean Curran shot from the blue line. But Manhattanville again took a lead into the intermission thanks to Elser, who corralled the rebound of a Michalchuk shot and stuffed it behind Margolin at the 13:01 mark. Senior Dillon O'Hara (Wallingford, Conn./South Kent School) also assisted on the score.
Manhattanville again struck early in the frame to open up a 3-1 lead, as Hudson circled around the Camel net and scored his team-leading fifth score of the year. Rivera and sophomore Louie Balzano (Staten Island, N.Y./New York Apple Core (EJHL)) picked up the assists on the goal.
The floodgates opened up in the final five minutes of the third period, as the Valiants scored three more times to increase the final margin. Elser netted his second of the night with 4:30 remaining, taking passes from Michalchuk and senior captain Bill Silengo (Madison, Conn./South Kent School) and coming down the left side of the ice to slide the puck under Margolin's pads.
McGregor's second goal at 18:32 lowered the deficit and gave the Camels hopes of a comeback, but sophomore Craig Simchuk (Winnipeg, Man./Winnipeg Saints (MJHL)) quickly quelled those thoughts by finding an empty net 34 seconds later to regain the three-goal lead. Junior Brendan Turner (Tisdale, Sask./Lloydminster Bobcats (AJHL)) then put an exclamation point on the game with 29 seconds left, as junior assistant captain Ron Smith (North Delta, B.C./Nanaimo Clippers (BCHL)) fired a shot that bounced off Margolin's glove and sat in the crease for Turner to tap into an empty net for his fourth of the year.
Manhattanville (3-3-1) will continue its tour of the NESCAC on Friday night, as the Valiants host Trinity (Conn.) at 7 p.m. at Playland Ice Casino, with the GoValiants.TV video broadcast set to begin at 6:50 p.m. Connecticut College (1-5-0) will travel to Colby on Friday night at 7 p.m.
