Box Score Box Score
RYE, N.Y. – In a battle of two of the top offenses in Division III, the Manhattanville men's hockey team flexed its muscle on the ice and on the scoreboard in cruising to an easy 7-1 victory over SUNY Potsdam in game one of a two-game weekend series on Friday night at Playland Ice Casino.
Manhattanville had its way with a second straight SUNYAC opponent, posting a decisive 53-26 edge in shots and using an impressive six first-period goals to put the Bears down early. Junior Scott Hudson (St. Albert, Alta./Sherwood Park Crusaders (AJHL)) had a game-high two goals for the Valiants, and senior co-captain Evan Michalchuk (Edmonton, Alta./Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BCHL)) led all players with three points on a goal and two assists. Sophomore Marc Zanoni (Lethbridge, Alta./Calgary Canucks (AJHL)) and junior Brendan Turner (Tisdale, Sask./Lloydminster Bobcats (AJHL)) also had multi-point nights for the Valiants as well, while 10 other players had one point each as 14 different players got on the scoresheet at least once.
The game started off innocently enough, as through the first 13 minutes of play only one puck found the back of the net. That score came off the stick of sophomore Brian Elser (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./Bay State Breakers (EJHL)), who temporarily tied for the team lead with his seventh goal of the year at the 6:59 mark to put the home team up early.
But the offenses (mostly Manhattanville's) erupted late in the frame, as the teams combined for six goals in less than six minutes to suddenly find seven goals on the board after 20 minutes of play. The Valiants contributed almost all of those scores, registering five goals to take a commanding 6-1 lead into the locker rooms.
Michalchuk started the onslaught at the 13:36 mark, shoving home the rebound of a shot from fellow senior co-captain Bill Silengo (Madison, Conn./South Kent School) for his second marker of the year. Potsdam struck back less than a minute later on the power play, needing just 22 seconds of man-up time for Bill Tsekos to find the rebound of a Sy Nutkevitch shot and pot his sixth of the year.
But it was all Manhattanville after that point, with the home team scoring four more times in 2:44 to ice the game early. Freshman Mark Rivera (Belmar, N.J./Springfield Pics (EJHL)) started the run with his fifth of the year just 25 seconds after Tsekos' tally, as he patiently waited for netminder Kevin McFarland to go down before beating him high at 14:43. The Valiants needed just four seconds of power-play time to score their next goal, as Michalchuk won the opening draw back to senior Marcus von Sydow (Stockholm, Sweden/Djugarden J20 (SWE)) at the blue line and the defenseman wristed home his third of the year at 15:31.
Zanoni made it 5-1 a mere 38 seconds later, taking the puck into the zone himself on a delayed penalty and ending McFarland's night with his first goal of the year. On the subsequent Valiant power play, Hudson greeted new Potsdam goalie Dylan Ellis with his seventh goal of the year at the 17:27 mark to conclude the frantic finish and give the home team a 6-1 lead.
Manhattanville finished the first period with a 23-6 edge in shots on goal. McFarland made 14 saves and allowed five goals before giving way to Ellis, who allowed one goal on four shots for the rest of the frame. Meanwhile, Valiant senior Pierre-Olivier Lemieux (Rimouski, Que./Neepawa Natives (MJHL)) was rarely tested at the other end and needed to make just five first-period stops.
The final two periods featured a lot less scoring and a lot more penalties, as both teams lost their composure with the score out of reach. After a scoreless second frame, Hudson netted the only goal of the third period with 5:02 left on the clock, scoring with two seconds left on a Valiant five-on-three advantage to give him a team-leading eight goals on the year.
Thanks to Hudson's two tallies, the Valiant power play looked good against the Bears, scoring three times on nine chances. The team's penalty kill unit also limited the powerful Bear offense to one goal on eight man-up chances as well.
Lemieux finished the night with 25 saves on 26 shots, while Ellis made 32 saves in relief of McFarland.
Manhattanville (6-4-3) and Potsdam (6-7-2) will renew acquaintances tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. at Playland, with the GoValiants.TV video broadcast set to begin at 2:50 p.m.
