Boxscore

RYE, N.Y. – In a battle between two evenly matched teams, special teams provided the difference as #8 Utica College scored once on the power play and once shorthanded to come back and defeat #10 Manhattanville College, 2-1, in an ECAC West Conference men's hockey contest on Friday night at Playland Ice Casino.

After freshman Luc VanNatter got the Valiants on the board in the first period with an even-strength tally, a shorthanded score by Jordan Hobaica knotted the score at one after 40 minutes and Steve Zappia netted a power-play goal in the third frame that ended up being the game-winning score.

In addition to the special teams goals given up, Manhattanville also went scoreless on seven power-play chances on the night, as the home team could not capitalize on its opportunities against the Pioneers. As a result, the Valiants dropped their third straight game and fell into fifth place in the ECAC West with three games left in the regular season.

The two goalies did not have to face a barrage of shots thanks to some nice shot blocking on both sides, yet Utica's Nick Therrien made his 16 saves count to pick up the win. Manhattanville junior Pierre-Olivier Lemieux (Rimouski, Que./Neepawa Natives (MJHL)) made 19 saves on 21 shots for the home team.

The first period did not have a great flow thanks to seven penalties called between the two teams, but during the little even-strength time there was the Valiants were able to strike first at the 9:42 mark. After junior Marcus von Sydow (Stockholm, Sweden/Djugarden J20 (SWE)) had his initial shot attempt blocked from the blue line, VanNatter was there to corral the carom and notch his fourth of the season.

Manhattanville looked to increase its lead midway through the second period after a Utica penalty put the Valiants up a man for the fifth time. However, instead it was the Pioneers doing the scoring at the 14:26 mark when Trever Hertz made some nifty moves along the side wall and fed Hobaica in the slot for a one-timer that beat Lemieux.

Utica took the lead for the first and only time with 8:47 remaining in the contest, as Zappia skated into the high slot area and wristed the puck through the five-hole of Lemieux for his first of the season on the power play. Despite pulling the goaltender late in regulation, Manhattanville could not pull off the equalizer and as a result suffered the defeat.

Manhattanville (14-7-1, 2-7-0 ECAC West) and Utica (16-5-0, 5-3-0 ECAC West) will travel 230 miles north to complete the home-and-home series tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. Fans can catch all the action live on WMVL 88.1 FM starting at 6:50 p.m.