Box Score Box Score
RYE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville men's hockey team built up a two-goal lead on USCHO #7 Amherst midway through the second period, but a third-period score by the visitors' Brandon Hew with 3:35 remaining knotted the score and the Valiants had to settle for a 3-3 (OT) tie with the Lord Jeffs in a non-conference matchup at Playland Ice Casino on Tuesday evening.
Manhattanville built up its two-goal lead with a pair of scores in the middle frame, as sophomore Luc Van Natter (Fort Erie, Ont./Aurora Tigers (OPJHL)) gave the home team a 2-1 lead on the power play at the 3:20 mark and classmate Louie Balzano (Staten Island, N.Y./New York Apple Core (EJHL)) netted his first of the year at 10:10 to give the home team a 3-1 advantage. Van Natter's sixth of the year came at the left post as he redirected a shot from freshman Mark Rivera (Belmar, N.J./Springfield Pics (EJHL)), while Balzano's tally occurred after rocketing a shot into the top-corner on a two-on-one rush down the ice.
Amherst got one back before the end of the middle frame, as Eddie Effinger corralled the rebound of a Jeremy Deutsch shot and slid the puck into a vacated Valiant net for his fourth goal of the year with 4:36 left in the frame. The Valiants did well to hold off the hard-charging Lord Jeffs for most of the third period, but the visitors broke through with less than four minutes left when Hew potted the rebound of a Ryan Edwards shot to knot the score.
Both squads were whistled for minor penalties in the overtime frame to provide for ample scoring opportunity, but neither team could find the net and the game concluded at three apiece.
Senior netminder Pierre-Olivier Lemieux (Rimouski, Que./Neepawa Natives (MJHL)) made 21 saves for Manhattanville on the night, while Amherst's Jonathan La Rose turned aside 17 shots. Amherst held a slight 24-20 edge in shots for the game, with only one frame seeing a team have more than a one-shot advantage over their opposition.
The game started well for the home team, as Rivera picked up his first point of the night with a goal on his first shift. After senior Dillon O'Hara (Wallingford, Conn./South Kent School) chipped a seemingly harmless puck up the far-side boards, Rivera sped past his defender and picked the corner from the far circle for his second of the year. Amherst's Jamie Hawkrigg answered 70 seconds later, however, scoring on the power play to even the score after 20 minutes.
Manhattanville went 1 for 4 on the man advantage against one of the nation's top penalty kills, while also holding the Amherst power play to a 1-for-5 showing.
Manhattanville (4-4-2) will continue its five-game homestand on Saturday night, as the Valiants host SUNY Cortland for a 7 p.m. contest at Playland Ice Casino. Amherst (8-1-1) will continue a nine-game road trip on Friday at 7 p.m. at Bowdoin.
