Box Score Box Score
PINE VALLEY, N.Y. – The Manhattanville men's hockey team led 1-0 after 20 minutes, but it was all downhill from there as USCHO #10 Elmira scored seven of the game's final eight goals to post a 7-2 victory and snap the Valiants' eight-game unbeaten streak in an ECAC West Conference matchup on Friday night at the Murray Athletic Center.
Special teams served as the Valiants' downfall against the Soaring Eagles, as Elmira scored four times on the power play and also potted a pair of shorthanded tallies in Manhattanville's first loss of the 2012 calendar year.
Three Elmira players tied for the game-high with three points, as Brendan Sanders and Martin Lee both had a goal and two assists while Kevin Willer assisted on a trio of tallies as well. For Manhattanville, juniors Ron Smith (North Delta, B.C./Nanaimo Clippers (BCHL)) and Derek Serdachny (Yorkton, Sask./Yorkton Terriers (SJHL)) found the net in a losing effort.
The first period was evenly played on both sides, with Elmira holding a slight 9-8 lead in shots. But it was Manhattanville that broke the ice with 6:30 remaining in the frame, as Smith somehow put the puck over the shoulder of Elmira netminder Darren McDonald from a tough angle along the goal line. Smith's third goal of the year was assisted by sophomore Brian Elser (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./Bay State Breakers (EJHL)) and junior Scott Hudson (St. Albert, Alta./Sherwood Park Crusaders (AJHL)), the latter of whom tied for the team lead with his 20th point of the year.
The second period was all Elmira, however, as the Soaring Eagles scored four times on special teams to take a commanding 4-1 lead. In the middle stanza, Elmira scored twice on the power-play and also connected on a pair of shorthanded tallies to put the visitors behind the eight-ball after 40 minutes.
John Clewlow got the run started with a shorthanded tally at the 3:29 mark, going in a breakaway against senior netminder Pierre-Olivier Lemieux (Rimouski, Que./Neepawa Natives (MJHL)) and sliding the puck under his pads. The next two Soaring Eagle goals came on the power play, as Willer scored unassisted at 6:23 followed by Lee 2:10 later. Colin Hoey put an unpleasant cap on the frame from the Valiants' perspective, scoring on another shorthanded breakaway chance to give the home team a three-goal edge after two.
The Valiants had a chance to get back into the game in the third period with a pair of early power-play chances, but despite missing on both Serdachny still got the Valiants back within two at the 5:21 mark by again going high on McDonald from a tough angle for his third of the year from classmate Jason Bowles (Elkhorn, Man./Waywayseecappo Wolverines (MJHL)) and freshman Joel Rosenberg (Sigtuna, Sweden/Boston Bulldogs (AtlJHL)). However, that momentum lasted all of 34 seconds before Rick Acorn scored on the next shift to regain Elmira's three-goal lead.
The Soaring Eagles scored twice more on the power play later in the third period to account for the final score.
For the game, Manhattanville went 0 for 8 on the power play and also allowed Elmira to go 4 for 9 on the man advantage. Lemieux made 28 saves on 35 shots for Manhattanville, while McDonald also made 28 saves on 30 shots for Elmira.
Manhattanville (10-5-3, 4-3-0 ECAC West) and Elmira (13-5-2, 6-0-1 ECAC West) will complete their two-game weekend series tomorrow night at the Murray Athletic Center, as the Valiants and Soaring Eagles are back at it beginning at 7 p.m. The live audio broadcast will begin on WMVL 88.1 FM and WMVLRadio.com beginning at 6:45 p.m.
