Box Score Box Score
UTICA, N.Y. – After spotting #9 Utica a one-goal lead after 20 minutes, the Manhattanville men's hockey team blitzed the Pioneers with five unanswered tallies to cruise to an impressive 5-1 victory in a key ECAC West Conference matchup in front of nearly 3,500 fans at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
Freshman Mark Rivera (Belmar, N.J./Springfield Pics (EJHL)) led all players with a pair of goals and also added an assist in the victory, while junior Scott Hudson (St. Albert, Alta./Sherwood Park Crusaders (AJHL)) also tied for the team lead with three points on a goal and two assists. Senior co-captain Bill Silengo (Madison, Conn./South Kent School) also picked up a pair of assists in the victory.
The win moves Manhattanville (12-5-3, 6-3-0 ECAC West) to within one point of idle Elmira for first place in the conference standings and also improves the Valiants, who currently have the hardest strength of schedule in Division III, to 6-2-1 against nationally ranked teams this season.
The hometown crowd was happy with its team after the first period of play, as the Pioneers' Tim Coffman opened the scoring with 2:32 remaining in the first to put Utica (14-6-1, 3-4-1 ECAC West) up by one after 20 minutes. But Manhattanville silenced the crowd and sent them home early by dominating the final 40 minutes of play.
Manhattanville came back with the only goal of the middle frame off the stick of junior assistant captain Derek Serdachny (Yorkton, Sask./Yorkton Terriers (SJHL)), who stuffed home his fourth goal of the year off a scrum in front. Classmate Jason Bowles (Elkhorn, Man./Waywayseecappo Wolverines (MJHL)) and sophomore Adam Young (Edmonton, Alta./Grande Prairie Storm (AJHL)), who took the initial shot from the point that led to the goal, were awarded assists on the score.
The third period was all Manhattanville, as the squad posted a 13-5 edge in shots and scored three times in less than four minutes early in the frame to take full control of the game. Junior Brett Skalski (Exton, Pa./Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)) started the onslaught on the power play 1:51 into the frame, controlling the rebound of a shot by Hudson and backhanding the puck just under the crossbar for his ninth of the year. Hudson and Rivera picked up the assists.
Less than two minutes later it was Hudson doing the scoring this time, as he intercepted a clearing attempt at the offensive blue line and walked in alone on Utica netminder Evan Smith to pot his team-leading 11th tally of the year at the 3:39 mark. Rivera completed the run at 5:11 of the third, walking in down the left side and stuffing the puck shortside past Smith for his first of the evening after Silengo sent an outlet to sophomore Luc Van Natter (Fort Erie, Ont./Aurora Tigers (OPJHL)) to spring a four-on-two rush.
Rivera then capped the scoring with less than two minutes to go in the game, scoring an empty-net tally from Hudson to send the partisan crowd home to the exits early.
“We played a brilliant road game in a hostile environment,” said head coach Eric Lang. “There is such a fine line between winning and losing in this conference; a missed backcheck or a blown coverage is all it takes. But right now we are doing all the little things well and have been playing a great team game for some time.”
Senior Pierre-Olivier Lemieux (Rimouski, Que./Neepawa Natives (MJHL)) earned the win in goal for the Valiants, allowing just that early Coffman tally and finishing with 24 saves on the night. Smith took the loss for Utica, allowing four goals on 27 shots before giving way to Nick Therrien for the final 12:34 of the game. For the game, Manhattanville posted a 33-25 edge in shots.
The Valiants and Pioneers will make the trip to Rye to complete the weekend home-and-home series tomorrow night, as the two teams do battle at Playland Ice Casino on Saturday at 7 p.m. Fans can watch all the action live on GoValiants.TV beginning at 6:50 p.m.
